Budget 2024 live: Rachel Reeves to warn ‘there are no shortcuts’ as tax rises expected in first budget
Rachel Reeves will say the only way to drive economic growth is to ‘invest, invest, invest’ when she delivers her Budget today
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Rachel Reeves will pledge to put “more pounds in people’s pockets” when she announces her first Budget today.
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 at 12.30pm: “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.
Smaller than usual minimum wage rise is sensible, economist says
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.
We’ll be covering the budget live all day
The Independent will be bringing the latest updates on the Budget throughout the day.
Labour’s first budget since March 2010 is set to lay out major changes to the UK’s taxation, borrowing, and spending commitments.
Here are some things we might expect:
1. Tax rises. An increase on raise employer national insurance payments is one of a number of taxes Labour could be set to increase. This also includes Inheritance Tax and the removal of the VAT exemption on private schools.
2. Borrowing. After an adjustment to fiscal rules, Reeves is expected to have up to an extra £50bn of borrowing to invest in infrastructure building such as roads, railways and hospitals.
3. Fuel duty and winter fuel payments. Ministers have already announced plans to remove the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners, instead introducing a means-testing system. Ministers have also faced calls not to increase fuel duty.
4. Education. Rachel Reeves is believed to have set aside £1.4 billion for crumbling schools, in a budget which she says will prioritise education and childcare. An extra £1.8 billion will expand government-funded nursery care.
5. Health. Ms Reeves is expected to announce a funding deal for the NHS which goes far beyond inflation.
Stay with us for all the latest on Ms Reeves autumn budget.
Unions tell Reeves they expect huge public sector pay rise in new year despite £40bn Budget black hole
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.
Unions tell Reeves they expect huge pay rise in new year despite Budget black hole
It brings another headache for the chancellor as she looks to raise taxes in Wednesday’s Budget
What is Labour’s controversial private school VAT raid policy?
The government is set to end tax breaks for private schools in a controversial new policy.
Labour plans to remove the VAT exemption and business rates relief for independent schools from January, with parents set to foot the cost.
The move has faced ongoing backlash from the sector, including over the disproportionate impact on already-stretched smaller, specialist schools, as well as the short timescale involved and fears of a mass exodus of pupils.
What is Labour’s controversial private school VAT raid policy?
Rachel Reeves set to commit to tax rise in first Budget as chancellor on Wednesday
Martin Lewis issues pension credit warning to Rachel Reeves hours before budget
Martin Lewis has issued a pension credit warning to chancellor Rachel Reeves just hours before the autumn UK budget.
The Martin Lewis Money Saving Show returned on Tuesday (29 October), and saw the financial guru take a question about the winter fuel payment from a woman whose husband died just two weeks ago.
The woman wanted to know if she would be eligible for pension credit.
Mr Lewis said: “You have to be on an income of under £11,400 to be eligible. It’s a very tight means test and is critically underclaimed.”
Mr Lewis then revealed he will host a budget special of his show on Thursday and hopes the chancellor will join him.
He warned: “I will be talking about winter fuel payment without you chancellor, so you may as well be here. It would be a lot better.”
Watch below:
Martin Lewis issues pension credit warning to Rachel Reeves hours before budget
Martin Lewis has issued a pension credit warning to chancellor Rachel Reeves just hours before the autumn UK budget. The Martin Lewis Money Saving Show returned on Tuesday (29 October), and saw the financial guru take a question about the winter fuel payment from a woman whose husband died just two weeks ago. The woman wanted to know if she would be eligible for pension credit. Mr Lewis said: “You have to be on an income of under £11,400 to be eligible. It’s a very tight means test and is critically underclaimed.” Mr Lewis then revealed he will host a budget special of his show on Thursday and hopes the chancellor will join him. He warned: “I will be talking about winter fuel payment without you chancellor, so you may as well be here. It would be a lot better.”
Five key things set to be announced in autumn 2024 budget
Full report: Rachel Reeves pledges to ‘invest, invest, invest’ as she prepares to unveil historic Labour Budget
Rachel Reeves will unveil her historic Budget – the first by a Labour chancellor in 14 years – with a message of hope for the UK as she pledges to deliver economic growth and put money back in people’s pockets with a rise in the national minimum wage.
In what is expected to be a Budget of record-breaking tax rises involving “tough choices” to “fix public services”, Ms Reeves will hold out some hope with a rallying cry that she intends to “invest, invest, invest” to turn the country around.
The rhetoric appears to deliberately echo Tony Blair’s three priorities of “education, education, education” ahead of the 1997 election as Ms Reeves attempts to grasp the optimism of his New Labour government in what is widely expected to be a gloomy Budget.
The Independent’s Political Editor David Maddox reports:
Reeves pledges to ‘invest, invest, invest’ as she prepares to unveil historic Budget
Rachel Reeves will promise to put ‘more pounds in people’s pockets’ despite a series of tax rises expected when she becomes the first female chancellor to deliver a Budget
‘Serious concern’ among small business owners about Budget tax rises
Small business owners are “seriously concerned” by the possibility of tax rises in the Budget on Wednesday.
Some fear they will need to cut their employee headcount, including paraplanning business owner Steve Luke, 56.
“I’m seriously concerned that if the Budget is as bad as I’m expecting then we may have to reduce the workforce from nine to seven or eight,” he told PA.
Mr Luke says he is concerned the government will not view him as a “working person” in the Budget, as he takes a small salary from the business while also paying himself a dividend due to fluctuating income.
Farmer and landlord Richard Payne, 61, who owns around 500 acres of land and rents 150-200 acres for wheat, barley, oilseed rape and canola farming, says he is “extremely nervous”.
“Whilst I’m probably not going to be clobbered hard on national insurance contributions, because we don’t employ a huge number of people… I’m more worried about taxation on profit, if we make any, and also, in my case, losing agricultural property leave or business property relief on our assets,” he said.
Joy Francis, 76, the owner of two nurseries and employer of 22 people, fears the increase on employer’s national insurance contributions.
“(The Government) just doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of small businesses being the backbone of the economy and we’re not all money-grabbing people with shareholders to pay.”
Chancellor must fund Scotland “immediately and significantly”, John Swinney says
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
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.
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