Rachel Reeves will pledge to put “more pounds in people’s pockets” when she announces her first Budget on Wednesday.
After months of warning the public of the “tough choices” ahead, Ms Reeves is expected to promise to “invest, invest, invest” in order to “fix public services”.
Reeves is expected to say in her speech today: “My belief in Britain burns brighter than ever. And the prize on offer to today is immense.
“More pounds in people’s pockets. An NHS that is there when you need it. An economy that is growing, creating wealth and opportunity for all. Because that is the only way to improve living standards.
“And the only way to drive economic growth is to invest, invest, invest. There are no short cuts. To deliver that investment we must restore economic stability.”
The minimum wage will increase to £12.21, the Treasury revealed on Tuesday evening.
Ms Reeves has described the 6.7 per cent increase as a “significant step” towards creating a “genuine living wage for working people” - although it falls short of the £12.60 an hour sum recommended by the Living Wage Foundation.
Key Points
- I’ll put more pounds in people’s pockets - Reeves
- Minimum wage to rise to £12.21 an hour in Wednesday’s budget
- Businesses struggling with minimum wage increases, Reeves told
Chancellor must fund Scotland “immediately and significantly”, John Swinney says
00:02
Alex Croft
Funding for Scotland must increase “immediately and significantly” in Wednesday’s budget, first minister John Swinney has said.
At a reception for business leaders on Tuesday, Mr Swinney said: “The Office for Budget Responsibility highlighted recently the potential for public investment to deliver permanent improvements in the economy.
“It is welcome that my calls for the Chancellor to amend her fiscal rules have been heard, with indications last week that there will be scope for greater investment.
“The Chancellor has the chance to choose to deliver a UK Budget that invests in our public services and supports the entrepreneurial spirit displayed in Scotland’s business sector.
“With these new rules in place, the Chancellor must use the fiscal headroom they create to deliver a Budget that immediately and significantly enhances Scotland’s resource and capital funding, enabling us to invest more in our public services and take forward the vital infrastructure projects that support economic growth, net zero, and action to tackle child poverty.”
The Scottish government recently made more than £500 million of in-year cuts, with Scotland’s finances in significant difficulty.
Mr Swinney has also called for an Acorn carbon capture and storage facility in the north east of Scotland to be funded after it was overlooked twice by successive UK governments.
Daily Record: Axe 2-child cap if you want to help kids
Tuesday 29 October 2024 23:45
Alex Croft
Scottish first minister John Swinney has called on Rachel Reeves to use the Budget to scrap the two-child benefit limit, the Daily Record reports.
Daily Record: Axe 2-child cap if you want to help kids #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/YhkZg0nxir
— George Mann (@sgfmann) October 29, 2024
Financial Times: UK borrowing costs hit post-election record on eve of Reeves’ first Budget
Tuesday 29 October 2024 23:39
Alex Croft
The Financial Times reports that UK borrowing costs have hit a post-election record.
The markets are readying themselves for a tax hit as new borrowing is expected to top £20 billion, the FT says.
Financial Times: UK borrowing costs hit post-election
— George Mann (@sgfmann) October 29, 2024
record on eve of Reeves’ first Budget #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/TMM7dzaPVC
The Times: Budget rises and workers’ rights add up to ‘perfect storm’ for businesses
Tuesday 29 October 2024 23:30
Alex Croft
Businesses leaders have warned the government that more taxes, higher wage bills and the overhaul on workers rights will create the “perfect storm”, The Times reports.
The Times: Claims of Southport ‘cover-up’ #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/JOF5jyfLNV
— George Mann (@sgfmann) October 29, 2024
Morning Star: Glum and Glummer
Tuesday 29 October 2024 23:23
Alex Croft
The Morning Star leads on Rachel Reeves’ “Horror Halloween Budget”, adding that the government “struggles to move on from its misery messaging”.
Ms Reeves warned that Wednesday’s budget won’t be enough to fix the NHS, the paper reports.
Morning Star: Glum and glummer #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/hLyEVMFgJk
— George Mann (@sgfmann) October 29, 2024
The Guardian: Chancellor hails 6.7% minimum wage rise
Tuesday 29 October 2024 23:15
Alex Croft
The Guardian’s front page leads with Rachel Reeves’ 6.7 per cent increase on the National Living Wage - otherwise known as the minimum wage.
The increase will see the hourly rate increase to £12.21, amounting to an extra £1,400 annually for those on the lowest income.
The Guardian: Israeli strikeon flats in northern Gaza kills at least 93 #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/YGmFjWW8G8
— George Mann (@sgfmann) October 29, 2024
Every way Labour has defined ‘working people’ ahead of the Budget
Tuesday 29 October 2024 23:00
Albert Toth
Labour ministers have been drawn into a debate around “working people” in recent days as the party vows not to raise taxes on them at Wednesday’s Budget.
In their pre-election manifesto, the party pledged not to increase income tax, national insurance, or VAT as part of their commitment to keep taxes low for these “working people.”
But other rumoured tax rises have led critics to question who exactly falls under Labour’s definition of ‘working’.
There’s no tax rise that can avoid everyone’s pockets, but with around 50 per cent of UK citizens considering themselves working-class, Labour has been pressed to clarify who falls under the party’s definition.
Read what Labour ministers have said here:
I’ll put more pounds in people’s pockets - Reeves
Tuesday 29 October 2024 22:30
Alex Croft
Rachel Reeves will pledge to put “more pounds in people’s pockets” when she stands at the dispatch box for the first Labour budget since March 2010.
It comes despite repeated warnings of tough decisions ahead as she looks to fix the NHS and grow the economy through a series of tax hikes and borrowing increases.
The “prize on offer” for Labour’s plans is “immense”, Ms Reeves is expected to tell MPs in her speech tomorrow. She added that there are “no shortcuts” to driving the economic growth Labour has promised.
Reeves is expected to say in her speech: “My belief in Britain burns brighter than ever. And the prize on offer to today is immense.
“More pounds in people’s pockets. An NHS that is there when you need it. An economy that is growing, creating wealth and opportunity for all. Because that is the only way to improve living standards.
“And the only way to drive economic growth is to invest, invest, invest. There are no shortcuts. To deliver that investment we must restore economic stability.”
Daily Telegraph: Chancellor gives Armed Forces £3bn boost
Tuesday 29 October 2024 22:18
Alex Croft
The Daily Telegraph’s front page splash reveals an extra £3bn for the British military.
It means the proportion of national wealth spent on the armed forces will slightly decline, but will remain fairly stable at around 2.3 percent, the paper reports.
The Daily Telegraph: ‘Southport attacker’ possessed
— George Mann (@sgfmann) October 29, 2024
al-Qaeda manual #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/dJepLXT8Z4
Report: Keir Starmer suffers ‘unprecedented’ collapse in popularity for new PM
Tuesday 29 October 2024 22:02
Alex Croft
Sir Keir Starmer’s approval rating has collapsed more significantly after winning an election than any other prime minister in modern history, a new poll has shown.
Following the July election, which saw the Labour Party win a landslide majority of 174 seats, the prime minister approval rating reached a high of plus 11.
But by October, just days before Rachel Reeves’ Budget on Wednesday, new polling from More in Common showed that the prime minister’s personal approval rating has fallen to -38 – a net drop of 49 points.
Labour Manchester mayor Andy Burnham breaks ranks to reject Keir Starmer’s bus fare cap rise
Tuesday 29 October 2024 21:30
Kate Devlin
The Labour mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has broken ranks with Sir Keir Starmer to reject controversial plans to raise the bus fare cap by 50 per cent.
The cost of a bus journey in the city will still be capped at £2, Mr Burnham has announced.
Sir Keir announced in a speech in Birmingham on Monday the maximum bus fare will rise to £3 in England until the end of 2025, in a bid to ease pressure on the public finances.
The hike will be announced at Rachel Reeves’ Budget on Wednesday as the government tries to plug a £22bn hole in the public finances.
But Mr Burnham said on Tuesday that Manchester would “proceed with our plan to introduce a new simpler, flatter fare structure based around a £2 single fare” at the start of January.
He added: “Because of the decisions we have taken, and the progress we have made, GM (Greater Manchester) is in a different position to other areas across England when it comes to bus funding and bus fares.”
Single bus fares in England have been capped at £2 outside London, where they are £1.75 per journey, for most routes since January 2023.
In pictures: Rachel Reeves prepares for biggest moment of her career
Tuesday 29 October 2024 21:02
Alex Croft
Opinion: Rachel Reeves is Britain’s first ever female chancellor – there’s ‘peril’ in that
Tuesday 29 October 2024 20:31
Alex Croft
When Rachel Reeves became the first female chancellor since the post was created 800 years ago, there was no disguising her pride in her historic achievement.
In her very first speech to Treasury staff, she remarked on what a “huge privilege” it was. Beaming from ear to ear, she positioned herself as a standard bearer for “every young woman and girl” to demonstrate that “there should be no ceilings on your ambitions, your hopes or your dreams”.
Read Cathy Newman’s column here:
Businesses struggling with minimum wage increases, Reeves told
Tuesday 29 October 2024 20:01
Alex Croft
The Low Pay Commission, which recommended the minimum wage increase adopted by Rachel Reeves for tomorrow’s budget, has warned that businesses are beginning to struggle with wage rises.
Chairwoman Baroness Philippa Stroud said: “At the same time, employers have had to deal with the adult rate rising over 20% in two years, and the challenges that has created alongside other pressures to their cost base.”
She added: “The data show some signs of employers finding it harder to adapt to minimum wage increases.”
John Foster, the chief policy and campaigns officer at the Confederation of British Industry, said it is becoming “increasingly difficult for firms to find the headroom to invest in the tech and innovation needed to boost productivity and deliver sustainable increases in wages” due to rising minimum wage rates.
This may explain why Reeves has adopted a smaller increase than usual - it is the first time in nearly 10 years that it has not risen faster than typical wage growth.
The minimum wage has risen nearly 10 per cent in each of the past two years, a partial response to high inflation.
Trades Union Congress hails minimum wage rise
Tuesday 29 October 2024 19:30
Alex Croft
General secretary of the TUC Paul Nowak has said the government is “delivering on its promise to make work pay”.
He added: “This increase will make a real difference to the lowest paid in this country at a time when rents, bills and mortgages are high.
“Low-paid workers spend more of their earnings in their local economies – so boosting their pay packets will benefit local businesses too.”
Mr Nowak also commended plans to bring the minimum wage for young peple into line with the adult rate. Younger workers currently face a “huge pay penalty” due to an “outdated and discriminatory system”, he said.
Full report: Rachel Reeves hands low-paid a £1,400 boost as minimum wage to rise by 6.7%
Tuesday 29 October 2024 19:01
Archie Mitchell, Millie Cooke
Millions of workers will be handed inflation-busting pay increases as Rachel Reeves hikes up the minimum wage by 6.7 per cent.
The chancellor will increase the measure, also known as the national living wage, from £11.44 per hour to £12.21 in April next year.
The change amounts to a £1,400 annual pay rise for a full-time worker on the national living wage. The government will also increase the minimum wage for 18- to 20-year-olds by £1.40 per hour as part of a plan to end the disparity between younger and older adult workers. In total, the change means 3.5m people workers on the minimum wage will receive a pay boost.
Read the full report by our political correspondents Archie Mitchell and Millie Cooke:
Who is Rachel Reeves? From child chess champion to first female chancellor to deliver UK Budget
Tuesday 29 October 2024 18:40
Shabnoor Irsha
Smaller than usual minimum wage rise is sensible, economist says
Tuesday 29 October 2024 18:19
Alex Croft
The minimum wage rise will be the first time in nearly a decade that it has not risen faster than typical wage growth, according to a leading economist.
“This smaller rise in the minimum wage – the first time in almost a decade when it has risen no faster than typical wage growth – is sensible in the context of an expected rise in employer national insurance contributions at the same time,” said Nye Cominetti, the principal economist at the Resolution Foundation think tank.
He said the Low Pay Commission should monitor the impact of higher minimum wage rates on employment, including the risk of firms switching to self-employed labour to minimise tax bills.
Breaking: Minimum wage to rise to £12.21 an hour in Wednesday’s budget
Tuesday 29 October 2024 18:00
Alex Croft
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed a 6.7 per cent increase to the minimum wage ahead of the budget announcement tomorrow.
Ms Reeves says the move is a “significant step” towards creating a “genuine living wage for working people”.
The increase was recommended by the Low Pay Commission, and adds £1,400 to the annual salary of a worker earning the minimum wage - otherwise known as the national living wage. But it does not match the £12.60 UK living wage which the Living Wage Foundation recommends.
The minimum wage will also raise for 18-20 year olds to £10 an hour, and for apprentices and those aged 16-17 to £7.55 an hour.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: “A proper day’s work deserves a proper day’s pay. Our changes will see a pay boost that will help millions of lower earners to cover the essentials as well as providing the biggest increase for 18-20-year-olds on record.”
Reeves hits back at Jeremy Hunt’s OBR complaint
Tuesday 29 October 2024 17:41
Alex Croft
Rachel Reeves has accused shadow chancellor Jeremy Hunt of “lashing out” at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
It comes after Mr Hunt, who served as chancellor for the Tories’ final two years in power, wrote to the country’s top civil servant arguing the OBR risked “straying into political territory and failing to follow due process” in its handling of this year’s review of government spending plans.
The OBR review was launched when a Treasury audit discovered what the government described as a £22 billion “black hole” in the plans Ms Reeves had inherited after taking 11 Downing Street in July.
Mr Hunt complained to cabinet secretary Simon Case that the report has not been shown to Tory former treasury ministers, and that it “will be used for highly political purposes”.
He said a failure to follow normal process is “deeply problematic for perceptions of the impartiality of the Civil Service”, claiming that she has invented a “fictitious black hole”.
But Ms Reeves hit back: “I think it is important we don’t deny the seriousness of the situation that we face with the black hole in the public finances. Combined with lashing out at independent economic institutions, (it) suggests that he’s got more in common with Liz Truss or Kwasi Kwarteng than perhaps we thought.
Budget 2024: What will it mean for my mortgage?
Tuesday 29 October 2024 17:21
Howard Mustoe
Lower borrowing costs have led to a surge in mortgage approvals, as home buyers aim to lock in better rates following the interest rate cut in the summer.
The number of approvals for homebuyers rose to a fresh two-year high in September, with 65,600 loans being approved – 700 more than in August, according to the Bank of England.
Alice Haine, personal finance analyst for pension firm Bestinvest, said: “Lower inflation, improving borrowing conditions and robust income growth have eased the affordability challenge for many buyers in recent weeks following the Bank of England’s decision to make its first interest rate cut since the start of the pandemic.”
Read the full report here:
Unions tell Reeves they expect huge public sector pay rise in new year despite £40bn Budget black hole
Tuesday 29 October 2024 17:01
David Maddox, Kate Devlin
Trade union leaders are already squaring up for a fight with Rachel Reeves over pay, even before she has published her first Budget.
The Independent has been told that union bosses have made it clear they expect massive public sector rises in the new year “after 14 years of Tory austerity and wage constraint”.
It is another headache for the chancellor who is expected to be forced to bring in some of the biggest tax rises in history to cover a £40bn black hole in Labour’s spending plans. Ms Reeves is expected to increase employers national insurance contributions and capital gains tax among a range of measures.
Read the full report:
‘Tomorrow we deliver on our promise of change,’ chancellor says
Tuesday 29 October 2024 16:39
Alex Croft
Rachel Reeves has shared a picture of her putting the final touches onto tomorrow’s budget.
Pictured behind Ms Reeves is Ellen Wilkinson, the Labour MP for Jarrow famed for being a figurehead in the 1936 Jarrow March, an organised protest against unemployment and poverty in the town.
Ms Wilkinson later became Chairman of the Labour Party, before serving as education minister in Clement Attlee’s postwar cabinet.
Tomorrow we deliver on our promise of change. pic.twitter.com/hWtGiZZclz
— Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) October 29, 2024
Chancellor reveals more details about plans for business rates
Tuesday 29 October 2024 16:20
Albert Toth
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has hinted at a reform to business rates in Wednesday’s Budget.
Asked by Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper about business rates, Ms Reeves committed to a “five-year roadmap” for business rates, the fees which councils collect from companies to support local services.
The Chancellor told MPs: “Small businesses and high street businesses are the lifeblood of all of our communities, including hers in St Albans, and it is important that we support them.
“In our manifesto, we committed to have reform of our business rate system.
“I’ll be setting out more details in the Budget tomorrow, as well as a business tax roadmap, because a business tax roadmap is what will give businesses certainty about the tax environment that they will be working with for the next five years.”
Treasury teases Budget with front page reveal
Tuesday 29 October 2024 16:00
Albert Toth
The Treasury has posted a picture on social media of the Budget’s front cover ahead of tomorrow’s event. The subheading reads: “Fixing the foundations to deliver change.”
A Budget to fix the foundations of our economy and deliver change.
— HM Treasury (@hmtreasury) October 29, 2024
Watch live across our channels on 30 October. pic.twitter.com/RNUXJqeg89
Chancellor refuses to rule out fuel duty hike
Tuesday 29 October 2024 15:40
Albert Toth
Speaking in Commons, Conservative shadow innovation minister Saqib Bhatti pressed the chancellor to clarify reported plans to end the ongoing freeze on fuel duty.
Mr Bhatti suggested “any rise in fuel duty, which the Conservatives froze or cut for 14 years, would be a tax on those hardworking people or those hardworking small business owners”.
The Chancellor replied: “The previous government factored into their forecast an increase in fuel duty this year. I will set out our plans in the Budget tomorrow.”
The fuel duty cut – of 5p per litre on diesel and unleaded fuels – was due to end in March 2025, according to the previous government’s spending plans.
'Freebie loophole’ closed in new MP code
Tuesday 29 October 2024 15:00
Albert Toth
The updated ministerial code will close the “Tory freebie loophole”, Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has said.
Labour MP Kevin Bonavia (Stevenage), asked if the Government will “confirm that we will honour the pledges it made at the election”.
Mr Thomas-Symonds replied: “One of the many things that the Conservative government over 14 years destroyed, trust, I’m afraid was one of them, something this Government is determined to rebuild.”
James Wild, Conservative MP for North West Norfolk, asked: “why has the Prime Minister not yet published an updated version of the ministerial code? Are they still working out whether it is right to accept suits and glasses?”
Mr Thomas-Symonds replied: “We have already said that the Prime Minister will update the ministerial code and publish it shortly, and it’s making sure that it is fit for purpose, dealing with problems like the Tory freebie loophole, and that it meets the high standards the Prime Minister expects.”
Starmer chairs pre-Budget meeting
Tuesday 29 October 2024 14:40
Albert Toth
Ahead of the Budget, Sir Keir Starmer chaired a political Cabinet meeting, without civil service officials.
A Labour spokesman said: “This Budget is about investment with Labour versus decline under the Conservatives. The Prime Minister opened the political Cabinet meeting by saying that ‘politics is about choices’ and that the Budget tomorrow will show that ‘we are choosing to fix the NHS, rebuild Britain and protect the payslips of working people’, to deliver on our mandate for change.
The Chancellor told ministers “there would have to be difficult decisions on spending, welfare and tax” to deal with the legacy she inherited.
“She said the Labour Party promised there would be no return to austerity and the Budget tomorrow would deliver on that promise. She said the choices the Government is taking will restore economic stability.
“She said the Budget would fix the foundations of the economy and deliver on the promise of change.”
‘No-one is going to be happy’: Unions brace for Reeves’ Budget
Tuesday 29 October 2024 14:00
Kate Devlin
Union leaders are braced for increased taxes and spending cuts in Rachel Reeves’ Budget.
The chancellor has already warned she has had to make “difficult” choices in her first Budget, and the first one ever to be delivered by a female chancellor.
Labour is expected to increase employers’ national insurance contributions, extend the freeze on income tax thresholds, increase in capital gains tax on shares, and close inheritance tax loopholes.
One union leader told the Independent: “The impression we are getting is that no-one is going to be happy”.
Reeves’ first budget is about ‘protecting the payslips of working people’
Tuesday 29 October 2024 13:40
Millie Cooke
Rachel Reeves’ first budget is about “protecting the payslips of working people”, the prime minister told a political Cabinet meeting.
It comes amid a growing row over the definition of “working people”, with the party having promised not to raise national insurance, income tax or VAT on those individuals.
Addressing the meeting on Tuesday, Sir Keir said “politics is about choices”, adding that Wednesday’s Budget will show the party is “choosing to fix the NHS, rebuild Britain and protect the payslips of working people”.
The prime minister also said that the “question for the Budget is not whether we must act, it is how we act and what choices we make in the national interest”, a Labour Party spokesperson said.
We will back the OBR says prime minister
Tuesday 29 October 2024 13:20
Albert Toth
The Government will back the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), not trash it, the Prime Minister’s spokesman has said after Jeremy Hunt complained about the body publishing a review of the last administration’s spending plans on the same day as the Budget.
The former chancellor complained that the body publishing a review into the “black hole” Labour says it inherited on the same day as the Budget is not impartial.
Asked if the Government was using the OBR as a political tool, Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said: “No, the Prime Minister is clear that this Government is going to back the independent OBR, not trash it.
“The answer is not to blame the referee, face up to the challenges we faced and be honest about the trade-offs and choices the Government face, not pretend they don’t exist.
“That’s why the Government is strengthening the OBR through the Budget Responsibility Act to ensure that it’s never sidelined again, like we saw during the mini budget.
“The Government has been up front about the black hole of the nation’s finances and it fully backs the OBR and the independent scrutiny it provides.”
Public wants ‘positive, proactive’ vision from Budget, poll shows
Tuesday 29 October 2024 12:30
Albert Toth
The public wants to hear a “positive, proactive vision” for growing the economy and restoring public services when the Chancellor delivers her Budget on Wednesday, a poll has found.
Polling by Ipsos on the eve of the Budget found 84 per cent of people thought it was important to hear about Labour’s plans for improving public services during Rachel Reeves’s speech while 80 per cent wanted to hear about plans to grow the economy.
Only 69 per cent said they wanted to hear about the financial “black hole” in current spending plans while less than half the public said it was important for Ms Reeves to talk about the role of the previous government in bringing about the current situation.
So far, more people said they had heard negative stories about the problems facing public services and the economy than about Labour’s plans for the future.
Trinh Tu, managing director of Ipsos UK public affairs, said the public was “sending a clear message” to the Government – “we know the problems, now give us solutions”.
She said: “Awareness of the challenges is high, but people are much less clear on Labour’s plans to address them.
Starmer says ‘working people’ shouldn’t fear the Budget – but who are they?
Tuesday 29 October 2024 12:00
Albert Toth
As Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer assures the public that “working people” have nothing to fear from Wednesday’s Budget, confusion has arisen over who exactly qualifies as a “working person.”
As Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver Labour’s first Budget in 14 years, we want to hear your views. How should “working people” be defined? Should high earners or those with investments be included? And how should this affect decisions in the upcoming Budget?
Share your thoughts here — we’ll highlight the most insightful comments as they come in.
Tories urge rethink on winter fuel payment changes ahead of Budget
Tuesday 29 October 2024 11:30
Albert Toth
Conservative MPs have gathered in Westminster to call on the Government to “think again” about means-testing the winter fuel payment.
Later on Tuesday, they will hand in a petition to the Treasury ahead of Rachel Reeves’ first Budget on Wednesday.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride told the PA news agency that the petition has collected “over a quarter of a million signatures”.
Mr Stride said that they are “calling upon the Government to think again about means-testing the winter fuel payment”.
He said “many” pensioners are going to “really, really struggle”, adding: “This Government chose to give well above inflationary pay rises to trade union paymasters when it came to wage settlements and chose to take this money away from some of the most vulnerable people in the country. We don’t believe that’s right.”
“I am a working person,” says Wes Streeting
Tuesday 29 October 2024 11:00
Albert Toth
Wes Streeting has said he is a working person but that it is “people on low and middle incomes” who the Chancellor has in her mind’s eye when it comes to the Budget.
“I am a working person. Last time I checked I was working very hard,” the Health Secretary told Sky News.
“What I will say is that in our manifesto we were very clear about the steps we were going to take to protect working people, which was ruling out increases in income tax, national insurance and VAT, and despite all the pressures that we are under and the scale of the black hole in the public finances, we will honour every single one of those commitments.
“Just on this ‘working person point’, I think what we mean is when we’re making decisions, especially in the context of a Budget, who do we have in our mind’s eye?”
He told Kay Burley: “With the greatest respect to you and I, and the jobs that we do and the salaries we’re on, and I know you work hard doing your job, I don’t think the Chancellor’s worried about whether you or I are going to get by. She is worried about people on low and middle incomes.”
Private school VAT plans won’t affect special educational needs, Streeting claims
Tuesday 29 October 2024 10:30
Albert Toth
Private schools have the means to mitigate against the risk of children with special educational needs being priced out by tax rises, the Health Secretary has said.
In response to concerns about how raising tax on private schools will affect their provision to pupils with special educational needs, Wes Streeting told LBC: “Children with statements of special educational needs and disabilities will be exempt.”
Pushed on how this will work for children who do not have that statement, Mr Streeting said independent schools have the means to deal with those situations.
“Firstly, I’d say the statement is available to children and young people and their parents in that situation.
“I’d also say to independent schools, they have the means. They have hiked up their fees with inflation-busting increases for well over a decade and I’m sure they can take steps to mitigate against children being forced to drop out.”
What won’t be in the Budget? Labour’s less likely options weighed up
Tuesday 29 October 2024 10:10
Albert Toth
The country is just days away from hearing Labour’s first Budget since coming into power, as speculation mounts around what measures could be making the cut.
Tax rises have been confirmed by Labour, with Keir Starmer telling reporters he would defend them “all day long.” Both the PM and chancellor Rachel Reeves have reiterated the party’s message that “tough decisions” are needed for economic growth.
Budget leaks necessary, Streeting says
Tuesday 29 October 2024 09:42
Albert Toth
Disclosing parts of the Budget ahead of time is necessary to avoid shocking the markets, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said.
Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle had complained that it is “unacceptable to go around the world telling everybody” about “major” new policy announcements rather than giving the information first to MPs.
“Look, I can firstly confirm for the benefit of Mr Speaker, in case he’s listening, certainly, what I’m announcing today is the delivery of Labour’s manifesto, so we are honouring our commitments,” Mr Streeting told Times Radio.
“So, you know, I hope I don’t find myself on the wrong side of the Speaker and, look, there’s a serious point here, which is it was important for the Chancellor when she was in Washington last week to explain the context in which she’s making some big reforms to our economy and the way that she handles investment in our national infrastructure.
“That was important to make sure that this Budget lands in the right context with the financial markets.
“We saw what happened with Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng when they ignored the Office for Budget Responsibility and sidelined them, when they took the markets by surprise, they ended up tanking the economy, and we are still paying the price for it.
“But we do take the speaker seriously. We take Parliament seriously. We are members of Parliament first and foremost, and we’ve all heard very, very clearly and plainly what Mr Speaker said yesterday, and we will certainly be taking that into account in terms of our conduct in the coming days, weeks and months.”
