Chris Mason
Political editor

Morning from Downing Street. The hanging baskets are looking in pretty decent nick for this stage of autumn.

The cameras, tripods and photographers’ step ladders are here. And now there’s a helicopter buzzing about overhead too.

We are waiting for Rachel Reeves - and a genuine moment of history.

Hundreds of chancellors, for century after century, have delivered a Budget.

But never before has that chancellor been a woman.

Image source, Reuters

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has posted on social media ahead, external of the first Labour Budget in almost 15 years.

He says: "This is a huge day for Britain.

"After 14 years of decline, we will invest in our country - rebuilding our schools, hospitals and roads.

"We won't shy away from the tough decisions to grow our economy and protect working people's payslips. There is a brighter future ahead."

Image source, Getty Images

Tax increases for the hospitality sector will “simply be a tax on jobs”, says Simon Emeny, the chief executive of Fuller’s Pubs and Hotels.

"I can’t see how that’s going to stimulate any investment and how that’s going to translate to any growth in the economy," he says.

Emeny says he is hoping for a reform of business rates, which he says was in the Labour Party’s manifesto.

He adds the industry is struggling, and is pessimistic about the outlook improving once the Budget is announced.

"If you look at the stats across the sector, pubs are closing on a weekly basis and I can’t see that today’s budget is going to help that situation," he says.

Dearbail Jordan
Business reporter

There have been a lot of news stories about Labour wanting to change how debt is measured. This is so it can meet its own rule which is to have debt falling as a share of the economy in five years’ time.

The idea is it will allow Labour to borrow more to spend on investment in the UK. So what does this mean?

Think of it this way: You lend a chum £10,000. You then decide you’d like to get a loan from a bank. You could borrow against your home but then think you’d like a bit more money. You know you’re going to get that 10 grand back so you borrow against your home and the money you lent your friend.

For the government, that means it will now borrow against things like student loans which graduates pay back over many years. And it means, Rachel Reeves could potentially borrow up to £50bn more.

Dharshini David
Chief economics correspondent

Fiscal drag, a process of freezing of thresholds at which different rates of taxes on income (both income tax and national insurance) apply rather than increasing them annually with inflation, was put into place by the previous government, to last between 2022 and 2028.

As incomes rose, that created three million new taxpayers and pulled more than two million into higher rate tax bands - and higher tax bills for millions more. It’s netted the Treasury over £20bn already. Rachel Reeves is not only expected to maintain that – but to extend the policy by a further two years.

So a worker on a salary of £30,000, a basic rate income tax payer, would pay £160 more in taxes on income in 2030 than otherwise. And someone on £51,000 will pay over £400 more.

A short while ago, Keir Starmer's top government ministers headed into No 10 for what's presumably a pretty jampacked Cabinet meeting.

Next up, we'll see Chancellor Rachel Reeves leave 11 Downing Street - her official residence next door to Starmer in No 10 - with the signature Red Box in tow.

The PM will then head to his weekly Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) session at the House of Commons, which runs between 12:00 and 12:30 GMT, before Reeves delivers the Budget.

It's a busy day but be rest assured we'll bring you all the latest with timely updates and analysis. Stay tuned.

Nicole Healing rents a one-bed flat in Brighton for £1,250 a month.

Nicole previously worked as a civil servant and in digital marketing, but hasn't been able to work for the last few years due to several disabilities, including a connective tissue disorder that causes their joints to dislocate.

Nicole receives Employment and Support Allowance of £1,042, Personal Independent Payments of £798, and Housing Benefit of £917 per month.

Though they feel in a "fortunate position" currently, Nicole says: "I feel I am at the mercy of the DWP."

Nicole is "completely freaking out" about possible cuts to benefits and what that could mean for them. Government sources have confirmed Labour is looking to “deliver savings” on the amount it spends on welfare in today’s Budget.

“I am fearful about the negative rhetoric in the media about disabled people in receipt of benefits.

"They say their energy bill has gone up significantly in the last few years and they are worried their rent will also increase.

“I am not able to use my PIP for what it’s meant to be used for. Half of the payment goes towards my rent."

Nicole wants the Budget to clarify what support is planned for disabled people, and is hoping for a cap on energy bills this winter.

Much has been made of the government’s controversial decision to restrict winter fuel payments to all but the poorest pensioners.

Allana Lamb is a couple of pounds over the threshold for pension credit so will no longer get the fuel payment.

"I am very concerned about the government stopping it. Yes, [the state pension] is triple locked but it doesn't cover the cost of living,” says Allana, who is an army and navy veteran and a retired social worker.

She feels "the rich are going to get richer" from this Budget and that "those at the bottom of the pile or on the cusp of the bottom" will be hit with more taxes.

Allana gets both the full state pension and a small army pension, totalling £1,200 a month. She says her income isn't enough for all of her outgoings, and expects her mortgage to "virtually double" in the next few years. "That’ll put me in negative monthly outgoings," she says.

Allana also thinks the threshold for getting some council support to pay for social care costs should be raised. Currently people with assets up to £23,250 qualify. Labour has already scrapped plans to increase this.

We've been speaking to people with a range of incomes about what they want to see from Rachel Reeves.

Kirsty Brett works part-time as a cleaner in a care home, earning the minimum wage of £11.44 an hour.

She recently moved in with her sister in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk while she looks for new accommodation, after leaving her old job as a carer in Essex. Kirsty has osteoporosis, which made her work difficult, and also found it too expensive living in Essex.

On Tuesday, the government announced that the National Living Wage would rise to £12.21 in April, but Kirsty is disappointed it's not a bigger increase.

"That is not even £1 more. Everyone will appreciate it but it will not make a difference to people because of the cost of living.

"People should be paid at least £15 an hour. Because the cost of living has gone up. That would help a lot of people.

"The wage they class as minimum wage – I don’t see how it sustains someone."

She is now looking at "the cheapest options" for somewhere to live. She says she's found renting a one-bedroom flat costs about £1,300 a month, so Kirsty is instead looking at renting a caravan for around £800 a month.

Find out more about the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage here.

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Alongside the Budget, the NHS is expecting an announcement about funding.

Extra money is expected to be released for the coming months and for the next financial year.

Historically the budget has risen by 3% to 4% a year above inflation.

After a decade of rises averaging 1% to 2% extra during the 2010s, the last five years has seen increases closer to that historical average.

Will Labour go further? Its promise to create an extra 40,000 appointments and operations a year to tackle the backlog and the pressures building ahead of winter means the NHS has been making the case for it.

But despite promises earlier this week of extra money for equipment, the overall funding package is still unclear.

Many experts doubt the government will be able to go much further than the traditional 3% to 4% extra given pressure on public finances.

Kevin Peachey
Cost of living correspondent

If you are watching closely to see how the Budget will affect you and your money personally – well, we will help guide you through that today.

But here are a few tips when considering how and when you might feel an impact.

The chancellor will announce a lot that won't come into force immediately. For example, minimum wage rises don’t happen until April. So pay attention to the timings.

Some issues are devolved, so may not affect the whole of the UK.

And there's lots that may not be in the speech but is in the small print of the Budget documents. But, hey, we love the small print so will spend the coming hours and days going through that!

As a reminder, the Budget speech usually starts at about 12:30 GMT and lasts around an hour. Follow all the details live here, and you can also see it on BBC iPlayer.

Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak will give his response to the Budget as soon as Reeves sits down.

Stay with us for all the details and analysis.

Yasmin Taylor from Kent is a tech consultant and single mother of two young children.

Her biggest outgoing is £2,600 per month on childcare. The children's father also helps with costs.

“I studied and worked hard to get a job that pays a great salary, but I feel like I’m being punished for having children," she says.

Because of her £150,000 salary, Yasmin does not qualify for Child Benefit payments, or help via tax-free childcare or 30 hours free childcare.

She acknowledges that her income classifies her as a high earner, but says: "You still have to pay the gas and the electric and that's gone up a lot."

One of her main concerns is around energy bills this winter. She is also interested in what the chancellor may do on capital gains tax (CGT). Although she is not subject to CGT now, the next step in her career would be to become a partner at her firm, which would involve her buying shares in the company - which may later be subject to CGT if she were to sell them.

Luken Coleman works as a Level 3 business administration apprentice for a recruitment agency, earning about £1,500 a month. Previously he worked in shops and in manual labour jobs.

He works full-time Monday to Friday and goes to college one day a month.

Luken lives in Newbury with his parents and pays them £200 a month rent. While he pays all his own bills, he cannot afford to move out and says he would like to see apprentices get paid more.

"The average rent where I live is between £700 to £900 per month. If I did move out, I'd have to move further away, so I'd need a car."

As someone nearing his mid-20s, he says it can feel like you're not achieving much when you are still living at home.

"It's a mental health thing. Money-wise, apprentices are paid less because you are learning on the job, but it can make you feel less about yourself when you are not fully independent.”

The minimum hourly pay rate for apprentices is set to go up in April, but Luken's apprenticeship is due to end in December so the change won't affect him.

When his apprenticeship ends he is hoping to be kept on by his company, but is open to other opportunities.

Read more here on what people want from the Budget.

We’ve been speaking to people with a range of incomes about what they want from the Budget and how they think they could be impacted.

Blogger and web developer Andrew Cunningham lives with his husband in Glasgow. He describes themselves as "middle earners but diligent savers" who have been investing in their individual savings accounts (ISAs) and their pensions to fund their retirement.

He is concerned about rumours that there might be a cap on the amount of money you can hold tax-free in an ISA in the Budget. "That would hit us and would be a massive disincentive to save."

He is also worried that any flat rate introduced on pension tax relief would hit middle earners. As he is self-employed, Andrew has set up a self-invested personal pension. A single rate tax relief would mean less money going into his pension.

"We are living our lives assuming we won’t get a state pension when we get to pension age, at least not in the form it is now," he says, pointing out that spending on the state pension has grown over the years as a percentage of the government's budget.

He thinks in years to come, the government might have to raise the state pension age again, or cut the amount of benefit you get.

Read more here.

Ben Howard and his wife Sarah from Bristol are expecting their first child in February. They have a joint income of £100,000.

In September, their mortgage repayments went up by 60% to £1,400. Ben says they're "comfortable", but thinks the government should do more around the cost of childcare, because in some cases, "it's more efficient for [parents] not to work".

"But that puts us back in terms of what our career aspirations are."

Ben is not fully convinced that Labour will keep its promise of not raising taxes on “working people”.

"Am I going to see tax on my pension contributions, any kind of stealth tax?"

He expects to be worse off after Budget day. "They're going very big on business and growing the economy, and I get that, but nothing's resonating with me and my pay packet."

Read more: What is a ‘working person’, according to Labour?

Mum-of-two Hannah Clarke from Rutland in the East Midlands was juggling two part-time jobs but recently started studying full-time for a midwifery degree. She also works six to eight hours a week as a beauty technician.

She takes home about £1,800 a month, mostly via a student loan which she doesn't pay tax on. She says this just about covers her mortgage payments, which went up by a third earlier this year, bills and fuel.

“I just about make ends meet, but it isn't easy and I do sometimes have to ask for help," she says.

She would like free school meals to not be means tested but failing that, says the eligibility threshold should be lowered.

She also says if fuel duty goes up then the extra cost per litre of petrol or diesel "should absolutely not be passed on to drivers".

BBC News has been speaking to people with a range of incomes about what they want from the Budget and, in some cases, how they fear they could be impacted. Read more here.

Today's Budget will reveal how much tax each of us will pay and how much the government will spend on key services such as schools, transport, and the NHS.

BBC News has been speaking to people with a range of incomes about what they want from the Budget and, in some cases, how they fear they could be impacted.

Up next, we'll be bringing you some of what they had to say.

Dharshini David
Chief economics correspondent

Spreadsheets, snacks, back editions, earpiece, makeup, post-its, notebook, eye drops for squinting at the fine print …and trainers for running between studios. This is my Budget day battle kit, honed over more years and red books than I want to admit to.

Prepped (as we can) be for a day of wading through numbers and hundreds of pages, frantically drafting scripts and graphics - and on-air analysis.

Now just need the actual details…

We can bring you some images now of Cabinet members arriving at Downing Street ahead of today's Budget.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media