All eyes will be on Rachel Reeves today as the UK’s first female Chancellor of the Exchequer delivers her inaugural Budget in the House of Commons setting out Labour’s fiscal priorities.
11.40am
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is heading to the Commons where he will take questions from Conservative leader Rishi Sunak before Rachel Reeves delivers her Budget. It will be Mr Sunak’s final PMQs as party leader.
11.29am
11.17am
10.30am
9.30am
One of the key Budget announcements has already been confirmed, with Rachel Reeves saying on Tuesday the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour next year, a 6.7% increase.
The Chancellor described the move as a “significant step” towards delivering on Labour’s manifesto promise to introduce a “genuine living wage for working people”.
It will mean an extra £1,400 a year for a full-time worker earning the main minimum wage rate, known as the national living wage, from April 2025, but will still fall short of the £12.60 per hour UK living wage calculated by the Living Wage Foundation.
The Chancellor also announced that the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 would rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
9am
Rachel Reeves has posted on X to mark her first Budget delivery, saying: “Politics is about choices. This Labour government chooses investment over decline.”
Politics is about choices.
— Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) October 30, 2024
This Labour government chooses investment over decline.
On Tuesday, she tweeted a photo from her office in 11 Downing Street putting the final touches to her speech, which will be delivered in the Commons at about 12.30pm, following Prime Minister’s Questions.
Tomorrow we deliver on our promise of change. pic.twitter.com/hWtGiZZclz
— Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) October 29, 2024
