Rachel Reeves will announce Labour’s first Budget since coming into power on 30 October, leading one of the most anticipated fiscal events in over two decades.
Ahead of her announcement, local mayors have reportedly launched last-minute lobbying talks with the Treasury to prevent cuts to their transport budgets. The chancellor is reportedly looking to skim funds from the pots to help fill the £22bn public spending shortfall she revealed in July.
The reports come after cabinet ministers are understood to have written to the prime minister, going over Ms Reeves’ head to urge him to reconsider cuts to their departments.
It is thought that complaints came from the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, deputy PM and housing secretary, Angela Rayner, and justice secretary Shabana Mahmood.
Ms Reeves is also reportedly exploring increasing business rates on online tech giants in what has been dubbed an ‘Amazon tax’. The measure would be designed to help ailing high-street stores as online companies continue to dominate the market.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates ahead of the big event on 30 October here, on The Independent’s liveblog.
Budget rumours: 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 Toth23 October 2024 16:00
ICYMI: Wes Streeting warned inflation-busting NHS Budget deal will not be enough
Fears have been raised that Wes Streeting’s inflation-busting funding deal for the NHS will not be enough for him to pay for the reforms he wants to drive through.
Sources have told The Independent that the Department for Health and Social Care is set to get about 4 per cent – between £7bn and £8bn – as Mr Streeting confirmed that he has mostly agreed his settlement with chancellor Rachel Reeves. Inflation is currently running at 1.7 per cent.
David Maddox23 October 2024 14:44
Could the chancellor introduce an ‘Amazon tax’?
The chancellor is reportedly considering a new ‘Amazon tax’ that would see business rates paid my online tech giants increased.
Industry sources understand that a consultation will be launched after Ms Reeves announces the Budget on 30 October. This means the plans may get a mention.
It comes after Labour wrote in its manifesto that it would reform the business rates system to “level the playing field between the high street and online giants.”
The manifesto added that the current system “disincentivises investment, creates uncertainty and places an undue burden on our high streets.”
Albert Toth23 October 2024 13:45
Mayors in talks to soften local transport cuts – reports
Local mayors have reportedly engaged in a last-minute lobbying campaign to persuade the chancellor to soften potentially hundreds of millions in transport cuts.
There are fears bus, tube and tram projects in all 12 combined authorities represented by metro mayors could be at risk of underfunding. Following the local elections in May, 11 of these posts are held by Labour mayors.
“The mayors have been pushing back on the idea that their sustainable budgets should be cut, not least because many of them thought the money was guaranteed until 2027,” one official told The Guardian.
With the Budget only a week away, Ms Reeves will have already submitted her proposals to the Office for Budget Responsibility, making any last-minute changes unlikely.
The chancellor already made a substantial cut to rail infrastructure projects in July, when she announced the cancellation of the Tory-era Restoring Your Railways project alongside unveiling the £22bn shortfall in public spending:
Albert Toth23 October 2024 11:49
What 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.
Howard Mustoe23 October 2024 10:18
UK economy to grow faster than thought in pre-Budget boost for Reeves
The UK economy will grow faster than previously thought as lower inflation and borrowing costs lead to a boost in business activity, a boost for chancellor Rachel Reeves as she aims to fix the nation’s finances.
The update from the International Monetary Fund also suggested that the fight against inflation and the cost of living crisis had “largely been won”.
Albert Toth23 October 2024 09:09
Jeremy Hunt “had a tough job” says Rachel Reeves
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she has a “good relationship” with her predecessor Jeremy Hunt.
“I may not be particularly impressed with the state of the public finances that he left me, but I do recognise that after Kwasi Kwarteng, he had a tough job to do as well,” she told BBC Radio 5 listeners.
She adds that if there were one person she could “pick up the phone to now” it would be Alistair Darling, who delivered Labour’s last budget in 2010.
The veteran politician died last year at the age of 70. He served in cabinet for 13 years under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, working as chancellor during the 2008 financial crisis.
“I hope that he would be proud of what I’m doing as the next Labour chancellor after him,” Ms Reeves said.
Albert Toth23 October 2024 07:36
How make-or-break Budget has fractured Keir Starmer’s cabinet
Alexander Butler23 October 2024 07:00
Budget 2024: Inheritance tax set to rise – here’s what it means for you
Alexander Butler23 October 2024 06:00
Public sector pay rises hand Reeves a £6.7bn headache ahead of Budget
Alexander Butler23 October 2024 04:00