Reported by The Guardian
John Healey has announced his first budget – here are the main points, with political analysis
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John Healey starts by saying that his budget is “delivered at a time when global uncertainties and pressures are swirling worldwide and hitting people here at home”.
He says the administration will have a new approach, to steer us through global economic storms and give people fresh hope for Britain’s future.
He says it is an honour to deliver a budget as chancellor, before paying tribute to the fiscal discipline of his predecessor, Rachel Reeves. She took the difficult decisions required, he says.
Trade tensions are acting as a drag on global economic growth, as is the war in Iran, he says. The UK did not want this war, and it has driven up costs for British families through higher energy costs and higher interest rates.
Fiscal discipline is his first priority as chancellor, Healey says.
Peter Walker, senior political correspondent: A very immediate précis of the main political points of his first budget, with Healey talking up “breathing space” on the cost of living and a break from the Keir Starmer era, but also a mention of the “global uncertainties” which – and he cannot say this – might make his tweaks and changes slightly moot. This is set out more explicitly with a long section on the Iran war, and a note that the UK did not seek it.
Healey says he will meet the fiscal rule that day-to-day spending must be covered by tax receipts, and the investment rule that government debt, defined as public sector net financial liabilities, must be falling as a percentage of GDP in the third year of the forecast.
The government will have £15bn of headroom in 2029-30 and £22bn in 2030-31, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility, the government’s forecaster.
Government borrowing will be 4.2% of GDP this year, 3.4% next year, then 2.9%, 2.1% and 1.8% by 2030-31, the OBR says.