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Rachel Reeves has announced tax hikes that will raise an eye-watering £40bn in her historic first Budget.
The chancellor blamed previous Conservative governments for the measures. She accused them of blowing a hole in the public finances and failing to fund compensations schemes, such as the one for those affected by the infected blood scandal.
After months of warning the public of the “tough choices” ahead, Ms Reeves promised to “invest, invest, invest” in order to “fix public services”.
Delivering the first Labour budget since Alistair Darling in 2010, she said: “My belief in Britain burns brighter than ever. And the prize on offer 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.
“There are no short cuts. To deliver that investment we must restore economic stability.”
Ms Reeves added she was “deeply proud” to be the first female chancellor and it showed young girls there should be “no ceiling on your ambitions”.
Budget 2024 latest news
- Rachel Reeves confirms Budget will raise taxes by £40bn
- Reeves opens Budget by saying her ‘belief in Britain burns brighter than ever’
- Labour will rebuild Britain, says Reeves
- Chancellor announces funding for Infected Blood Scandal and Post Office compensation schemes
- Analysis: Rachel Reeves goes on the attack on the £22bn black hole
Crackdown on welfare fraud
Reeves has announced a fresh crackdown on welfare fruad.
She told the house that the new strategy will raise £3.4bn a year by the end of the fiscal forecast and will including direct access to bank accounts to recover debt.
Athena Stavrou30 October 2024 12:57 1730292896Budget to raise taxes by £40 billion
Chancellor Rachel Reeves told the Commons “this Budget raises taxes by £40 billion”.
She said: “The leadership campaign for the party opposite has now been going on for over three months, but in all that time not one, single apology for what they did to our country – because the Conservative Party has not changed.
“But this is a changed Labour Party and we will restore stability to our country again.
“The scale and seriousness of the situation that we have inherited cannot be underestimated.
“Together, the black hole in our public finances this year, which recurs every year, the compensation payments which they did not fund, and their failure to assess the scale of the challenges facing our public services means this Budget raises taxes by £40 billion.
“Any chancellor standing here today would face this reality, and any responsible chancellor would take action. That is why today, I am restoring stability to our public finances and rebuilding our public services.”
Athena Stavrou30 October 2024 12:54 1730292844Seven key pillars of Labour growth strategy
Rachel Reeves has spoken about what she calls the seven key pillars as Labour’s growth strategy:
- Restore economic stability.
- Increasing investment and building infrastructure - transforming planning rules.
- Working with devolved governments.
- Creation of Skills England, to tackle economic inactivity.
- Expanding opportunities for small and medium sized businesses.
- Protecting record funding for research and development.
- Maximise growth benefits of clean energy mission.
Rachel Reeves confirms Budget will raise taxes by £40bn
The chancellor has confirmed that her first Budget will raise taxes by an eye-watering £40bn.
But she insisted that the blame lay with the Conservatives. She accused them of blowing a hole in the public finances and failing to fund compensations schemes, such as the one for those affected by the infected blood scandal.
On her tax rises she told MPs: “Any chancellor standing here today would have to face this reality”.
Kate Devlin30 October 2024 12:50 1730292527Labour will rebuild Britain, says Reeves
The Labour Party will rebuild Britain, chancellor Rachel Reeves has said.
She told the Commons: “This is not the first time that it has fallen to the Labour Party to rebuild Britain.
“In 1945, it was the Labour party that rebuilt our country out of the rubble of the Second World War. In 1964, it was the Labour Party that rebuilt Britain with the white heat of technology. And in 1997, it was the Labour Party that rebuilt our schools and our hospitals.
“Today, it falls to this Labour Party, this Labour Government to rebuild Britain once again.”
Joe Middleton30 October 2024 12:48 1730292478Reeves to fall short of Gladstone’s four-hour Budget epic
The Independent’s Archie Mitchell reports:
Rachel Reeves is expected to speak for around an hour, well short of the longest Budget speech in history.
The chancellor who gave the longest continuous Budget speech was William Gladstone on April 18, 1853. The speech lasted four hours and 45 minutes.
Benjamin Disraeli gave a longer Budget speech in 1852, lasting five hours, but took a break part way through.
And, as well as the longest speech, Mr Gladstone holds the record for having delivered the most, with twelve under his belt.
Archie Mitchell30 October 2024 12:47 1730292444Reeves opens Budget by saying her ‘belief in Britain burns brighter than ever’
Chancellor Rachel Reeves opened her Budget speech by stating that her “belief in Britain burns brighter than ever”.
She told the Commons: “On July the 4th, the country voted for change. This government was given a mandate: to restore stability to our country and to begin a decade of national renewal. To fix the foundations and deliver change through responsible leadership in the national interest. That is our task and I know we can achieve it.
“My belief in Britain burns brighter than ever and the prize on offer is immense. As the prime minister said on Monday, change must be felt: 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 and to deliver that investment we must restore economic stability and turn the page on the last 14 years.”
Funding for Infected Blood Scandal and Post Office compensation schemes
The Chancellor has announced £11.8bn of funding to provide compensation for those affected by the infected blood and post office scandal.
“Today for the very first time we will provide specifically for those impacted,” she told the House.
Another £1.8 billion will also be set aside to provide extra funding for victims.
She notes that this was a cost which any chancellor would have had to meet but was not in the finances before.
Athena Stavrou30 October 2024 12:46 1730292270Analysis: Rachel Reeves goes on the attack on the £22bn black hole
The Independent’s polticial editor David Maddox writes:
After weeks of the Tories questioning her claims over a £22 billion black hole in the public finances, Rachel Reeves is promising a line by line analysis today to prove it exists.
She quotes the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) to say it was deceived by the alst government and its projections in the spring would have been “materially different” hd it known the full facts.
Ms Reeves wants to pin the blames for her tax rises and Budget misery on Tory mismanagement.
This could well be the debate framed for the next five years.
David Maddox30 October 2024 12:44 1730291862Rachel Reeves gets a dressing down before the Budget
The Independent’s Kate Devlin reports:
Rachel Reeves has received a dressing down before she started her Budget speech.
She was told off by the deputy speaker of the Commons Nus Ghani, because so many of her measures have already appeared in the press.
“We must all remember … to respect this House”, the chancellor was told.
Earlier this week the Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle also complained that Budget announcements should be made first to the House of Commons.
Kate Devlin30 October 2024 12:37 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.
