Budget 2025 live: Rachel Reeves says tax and spending changes based on ‘fair and necessary’ choices | Budget 2025
Reeves says budget will include ‘fair and necessary’ elections
how is this Treasure He outlined the budget in a press release published last night. This refers to the budget measures that have already been officially announced, as well as revealing what Rachel Reeves’ priorities are.
[The budget] This plan will include actions to shorten NHS waiting lists, reduce debt and borrowing, and lower the cost of living to ensure a strong future for the country built on fairness and fueled by growth.
It has already been confirmed that action to keep prescription costs below £10, freeze rail fares for the first time in 30 years and raise the national minimum wage and national living wage by £1,500 and £900 respectively will put more money in people’s pockets with this budget.
Investment in 250 neighborhood health centers has also been confirmed as part of the Chancellor’s pledge to further reduce NHS waiting lists and end the postcode lottery in accessing healthcare.
And here’s a quote from reeves.
Today I will hold fair and necessary elections to fulfill our promise of change.
I will not return Britain to austerity or lose control of public spending by borrowing recklessly.
I will take action to help families with living expenses… shorten hospital waiting lists… reduce the national debt.
And I will continue to push forward with the greatest growth drive in a generation.
Investment in roads, railways and energy. Housing, security and defense investments. Investing in education, skills and training.
So together we can build a fairer, stronger and safer Britain.
important events
Farmers stage budget day protest in Whitehall despite Met police telling them to stay away
Yesterday the Metropolitan police said: not allowing a planned protest By farmers in Westminster to match the budget. Farmers regularly protest the decision to extend inheritance tax to farms, announced in Rachel Reeves’ budget last year.
The decision was criticized by the Conservative party, which said the Met had initially indicated the protest would be allowed. Last night Victoria AtkinsThe Shadow Environment Secretary issued a statement saying:
It doesn’t smell very nice, especially when we consider the regular and frequent protests that are allowed in SW1, which mindlessly disrupt motorists, residents and businesses. “Is this to save the Chancellor’s embarrassment in front of a budget of broken promises?”
Some farmers showed up this morning though. As PA Media reports:
A number of tractors were seen passing through Westminster in the early hours of Wednesday and police stopped around 20 of them in the area.
They included a farmer dressed as Santa Claus, carrying a large spruce tree on his tractor and a sign reading: “Farmer’s Christmas – naughty list: Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, David Lammy, Diane Abbott, Angela Rayner and the BBC”.
The tractor was parked in Whitehall before the Metropolitan Police intervened.
Another tractor bearing the slogan “Fools vote Labour” is parked outside Parliament on Abingdon Street.
Here are some photos of ministers arriving at Downing Street this morning for the pre-budget cabinet.
Darren Jones says some pre-budget leaks ‘unacceptable and not very helpful’
Darren JonesThe Cabinet Office minister and the prime minister’s principal secretary admitted this morning that some pre-budget leaks had angered No 10.
Jones was on an interview tour on behalf of the government this morning and when asked about budget leaks he told LBC:
There have been some leaks that are unacceptable and not very helpful.
We had to read the sedition act to people in the government about this.
Jones appeared to be specifically referring to the Financial Times report which revealed that Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer had decided not to increase income tax in the budget; This would have violated the manifesto promise, even though they had made it clear the previous week that they would do so.
While some pre-budget stories in the media were the product of official briefings, the FT’s story was not confirmed and, although true – not least because it was true – it was not something No 10 wanted to emerge at that point.
Reeves says budget will include ‘fair and necessary’ elections
how is this Treasure He outlined the budget in a press release published last night. This refers to the budget measures that have already been officially announced, as well as revealing what Rachel Reeves’ priorities are.
[The budget] This plan will include actions to shorten NHS waiting lists, reduce debt and borrowing, and lower the cost of living to ensure a strong future for the country built on fairness and fueled by growth.
It has already been confirmed that action to keep prescription costs below £10, freeze rail fares for the first time in 30 years and raise the national minimum wage and national living wage by £1,500 and £900 respectively will put more money in people’s pockets with this budget.
Investment in 250 neighborhood health centers has also been confirmed as part of the Chancellor’s pledge to further reduce NHS waiting lists and end the postcode lottery in accessing healthcare.
And here’s a quote from reeves.
Today I will hold fair and necessary elections to fulfill our promise of change.
I will not return Britain to austerity or lose control of public spending by borrowing recklessly.
I will take action to help families with living expenses… shorten hospital waiting lists… reduce the national debt.
And I will continue to push forward with the greatest growth drive in a generation.
Investment in roads, railways and energy. Housing, security and defense investments. Investing in education, skills and training.
So together we can build a fairer, stronger and safer Britain.
Budget will target cost of living crisis as Reeves tries to keep Labor MPs united
Good morning. Budgets fall into two categories; reset ones and continuity ones. Continuity budgets are more normal (or at least they were until British politics went into near-permanent crisis mode) and reset budgets usually happen just after an election or when the chancellor changes. Resetting budgets is more interesting (but interesting for the way journalists use the word; what they really mean is ‘bad news’). This time last year, Rachel Reeves thought the 2025 budget would be a going concern, but instead it has turned into a massive reset challenge and essentially an event that has the potential to make or break Keir Starmer’s premiership.
Here’s our preview story from the night.
The stakes are particularly high because everyone who has taken the time to speak to Labor MPs in recent weeks believes Starmer could be sacked by this time next year. There are good reasons why this probably won’t happen, but the idea that it could happen isn’t unreasonable. This is one reason why so much is at stake.
We have explained the reasons for this at length in the past months, there is no need to repeat them here. As for what to expect from the budget, Richard Partington There’s a good article here that explains the context.
And in our First Edition newsletter, Phoebe Weston Here’s a guide on what to expect.
Today I will focus only on budget (apart from covering PMQs) and Graeme WeardenBusiness liveblogging , will join me. As always, we’ll cover the speech minute by minute, bring you reactions and analysis, and dig into budget documents to find parts Reeves didn’t mention in his speech.
Here is today’s calendar.
9am: Keir Starmer will chair the cabinet, where Rachel Reeves will brief her colleagues on the budget.
Afternoon: Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.
12.30: Reeves provides the budget. Kemi Badenoch responds on behalf of the Conservative party.
14.30: Richard Hughes, head of the Office for Budget Responsibility, holds a press conference.
Afternoon: Starmer and Reeves will meet with hospital staff to take questions about the budget.
16:00: Reform UK leader Nigel Farage holds a post-budget press conference.
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