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Keir Starmer is facing backlash after announcing that the £2 bus fare cap will be raised to £3 at the end of the year during a pre-Budget speech today.
The announcement came as the prime minister delivered a stark speech warning of “unprecedented” economic challenges during a visit to the West Midlands.
His speech comes ahead of Labour’s first Budget since coming into power on 30 October, where chancellor Rachel Reeves will lead one of the most anticipated fiscal events in over two decades.
Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick called the prime minister “clueless”, saying: “Starmer must think people who get the bus aren’t working people.”
The PM spoke as Labour faces a row over reported plans to raise employer national insurance contributions and capital gains, with critics arguing these measures would breach the party’s manifesto commitment to not raise taxes on “working people.”
Addressing the row, Sir Keir said the UK’s working people “know exactly who they are,” repeating the term 24 times throughout his speech in Birmingham.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates ahead of the big event here, on The Independent’s liveblog.
Key Points
- When is the Budget and what is the ‘stealth’ tax rise Labour are set to keep?
- 8 things to watch out for in autumn budget 2024
- Sir Keir Starmer confirms that the £2 cap on bus fares will rise
- Sir Keir mentions ‘working people’ 24 times after ministers refuse to say who they are
- Sir Keir: “Nobody wants higher taxes"
Reeves warns that Budget pain will just be the beginning with more difficult choices to come
Rachel Reeves has warned that tomorrow’s Budget will just be the beginning of painful measures to fix “14 years of Tory damage”.
The chancellor joined health secretary Wes Streeting for a hospital visit to highlight NHS funding ahead of her first major financial statement since becoming chancellor in July.
But with the prime minister also warning of “tough choices” ahead, Ms Reeves suggested that the expected tax rises this week will not be the end of difficult decisions to fix the country.
She has promised to produce economic growth but also pledged to her party that there will be “no new austerity”.
Reeves warns Budget pain will just be beginning with more difficult choices to come
Rachel Reeves uses a pre-Budget visit to a hospital to warn that fixing Britain’s problems ‘will take more than one Budget’
David Maddox, Rebecca Thomas29 October 2024 05:00 1730174400What should I do with my savings ahead of the Budget?
Ahead of the Budget on 30 October, there has been fevered speculation about changes to pension savers’ tax allowances and other perks.
Reports that pensioners could have tax breaks cut or axed led to savers withdrawing chunks of their retirement pots ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s big announcement.
What should I do with my savings ahead of the Budget?
Reports that pensioners could have tax breaks cut or axed have led to savers withdrawing chunks of their retirement pots ahead of the chancellor’s announcement
Albert Toth29 October 2024 04:00 1730170801Private schools warn sector could ‘fall apart’ if hit by national insurance and VAT tax blow
Private school parents could face a further fee hike if a national insurance increase is announced in the Budget in what has been called an “extra tax” on top of the government’s controversial new VAT policy.
With one warning that “there is only so far that the system can be squeezed before it starts to fall apart”, independent school leaders fear the sector will be hit twice – first, by Labour’s removal of private schools’ 20 per cent VAT exemption, which will start in January, and now, by a potential rise in employers’ national insurance contributions, which the chancellor has not ruled out ahead of her first Budget on 30 October.
Private schools warn sector could ‘fall apart’ if hit by double tax blow
Independent school leaders fear sector will be hit twice in Wednesday’s Budget
Tara Cobham29 October 2024 03:00 1730167200Hunt accuses Budget watchdog of political bias
Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt has accused the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) of shielding the Labour Party from scrutiny as it prepares to announce tax hikes.
In a letter to OBR chair Richard Hughes, Mr Hunt criticises the organisation for preparing to release a report timed with his successor Rachel Reeves’s first Budget, which addresses a £22bn financial gap attributed to Tory policies. The report is likely to be critical of the last government.
Hunt accuses Budget watchdog of political bias
Jeremy Hunt accuses the Budget watchdog of failing to be impartial since the Labour Party came into office
Albert Toth29 October 2024 02:00 1730163600Embattled transport secretary’s Budget victory prevented bus fare rises of up to 650%
Transport secretary Louise Haigh is being hailed for winning a personal victory in negotiations with the Treasury in preventing eyewatering bus fare hikes by as much as 650 per cent, it is understood.
The embattled minister has had a difficult month after being briefed against by Downing Street in the P&O workers’ rights row which saw the ferry company’s owner DP World initially withdraw £1 billion of investment from the UK.
But despite speculation that she could be an early ministerial casualty in Sir Keir Starmer’s government, Ms Haigh is thought to have emerged victorious in a fight with the Treasury over continuing with a cap on bus fares.
Embattled transport secretary’s Budget victory prevented bus fare rises of up to 650%
Details have emerged over how transport secretary Louise Haigh’s intervention ensured a new cap in bus fares would feature in the Budget
David Maddox29 October 2024 01:00 1730160060Budget rumours: Pension tax relief reform
Pension tax relief is a reduction of the amount of tax paid on private pensions. It helps workers save for retirement by boosting their pension pots.
The amount of tax relief a person is granted is based on their income tax. It will effectively cancel out tax on pension contributions up to a maximum of £60,000.
After this, contributions will be taxed at either 20, 40, or 45 per cent, depending on which income tax rate the worker falls into.
However, the chancellor is thought to be considering a flat 30 per cent pension tax relief rate. This would mean that higher earners would effectively pay 10 per cent in tax, while those on the additional rate would pay 15.
The measure would raise around £3 billion a year, with 7 million earners paying more tax. But it would be better news for basic rate earners, who would actually begin to receive a 10 per cent boost to their pension contributions.
Evaluating the idea last year, the IFS said it would “redistribute the burden of taxation from the bottom 80 per cent to the top 20 per cent of earners.”
Albert Toth29 October 2024 00:01 1730152809How Rachel Reeves might unlock £57 billion at the budget with a ‘simple’ fiscal rule change
Rachel Reeves will reportedly unveil a major change to Labour’s fiscal rules at the budget on 30 October by borrowing billions for infrastructure investment.
Following weeks of speculation, the chancellor will reveal her plans to change Britain’s debt rules at the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) annual meeting in Washington on 24 October.
How Reeves might unlock £57 billion at the budget in ‘simple’ fiscal rule change
Experts have urged the chancellor to consider tweaking a Labour manifesto pledge
Albert Toth28 October 2024 22:00 1730149209Recap: Starmer defends upcoming tax rises
Sir Keir Starmer defended the looming tax rises in Wednesday’s Budget.
He said “better days are ahead” and “everyone can wake up on Thursday and see that a new future is being built, a better future”.
The Prime Minister said: “Borrowing will drive long-term growth. Tax rises will prevent austerity and rebuild public services. We choose to protect working people. We choose to get the NHS back on its feet. We choose to fix the foundations, reject decline and rebuild our country with investment.”
He added: “The time is long overdue for politicians in this country to level with you honestly about the trade-offs this country faces, to stop insulting your intelligence with the chicanery of easy answers.
“Working people know that hard choices are necessary. They lived through the Liz Truss episode. They lived through the cost-of-living crisis.
“So they know that the things they want from us – protecting their living standards, building our nation, fixing our public services – they know that this can only be achieved alongside economic stability.
“There are no short cuts.”
Albert Toth28 October 2024 21:00 1730145609Budget rumors: Capital Gains reform
Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is paid on the profit made when an asset which has increased in value is sold. It is applied to things like the sale of personal possessions worth more than £6,000 (apart from a car), property that’s not the seller’s main home, shares and business assets.
It is charged at 10 or 18 percent for basic rate taxpayers, and 20 or 24 for higher or additional rate earners. There is a tax-free allowance of £3,000.
There are several ways CGT could be changed. In the run-up to the election, the Lib Dems and Greens both said they would rethink the tax bands to be more similar to income tax, raising an estimated £5.2bn a year.
Albert Toth28 October 2024 20:00 1730142009Recap: Starmer says Budget will be for “working people”
Sir Keir Starmer set out his approach to a Budget for “working people” in a speech before Wednesday’s financial statement.
The Prime Minister told an audience in Birmingham: “Trust in my project to return Britain to the service of working people can only be earned through actions, not words.
“Change must be felt. But every decision that we have made, every decision that we will make in the future, will be made with working people in our mind’s eye, people who have been working harder and harder for years just to stand still.
“People doing the right thing, maybe still finding a little bit of money to put away, paying their way, even in the cost-of-living crisis.
“But who feel that this country no longer gives them or all their children, a fair chance.
“People stuck on an NHS waiting list, whose town centre is blighted by antisocial behaviour, who can’t afford to buy a place that they can call home, or can’t afford the home they have because of the mortgage bombshell.”
Albert Toth28 October 2024 19:00 Newer1 / 5OlderDisclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
