Summary

  • Chancellor Rachel Reeves tells the BBC she would not want to repeat the £40bn tax rise Budget and she wants faster growth than has been forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)

  • Employers will bear the brunt of the £40bn in tax rises unveiled earlier by Reeves - the biggest increase in a generation

  • The OBR, which assesses the health of the UK's economy, said the package of economic measures unveiled by Reeves would ultimately "leave GDP largely unchanged in five years" - read the key announcements here

  • Analysis: This is what you might call a kitchen-sink Budget, which includes one of the biggest single tax-raising measures in history, writes economics editor Faisal Islam

  • On spending, Reeves announces a £22.6bn increase in the "day-to-day health budget" for the NHS and £5bn in house building investment

  • Reacting to the Budget, Tory leader Rishi Sunak calls it "an enormous borrowing spree" which contains "broken promise after broken promise"

Chancellor says Budget will raise taxes by £40bn

Live Reporting

Edited by Emily Atkinson

  1. Analysis

    Boost to special educational needs budget eases some pressure

    Branwen Jeffreys
    Education editor

    One of the most pressing issues in schools in England has been given a cash injection by the chancellor, with a £1bn increase for special educational needs and disabilities.

    It’s just a few days since the official spending watchdog warned the system was financially unsustainable.

    This 6% increase will be welcome easing of pressure, but it does not address the deficits of more than £4bn that have built up in local authorities.

    The core education budget is also going up by £2.3bn, and the £300m for further education will be welcomed by colleges who often feel overlooked.

  2. Chancellor outlines new funding for schools

    On schools, Reeves promises a £6.7bn capital investment to the Department for Education next year, which she says is a 19% real-terms increase on this year. This includes over £1.4bn to rebuild 500 schools "in the greatest need", she says.

    She adds that the government will provide £2.1bn more to improve school maintenance, which she says is an increase of £300m on this year.

  3. Government to invest £100bn in capital spending over next five years

    Overall the chancellor says, the government will invest £100bn in capital spending over the next five years.

    The OBR says this will increase GDP by 1.4% in the longer term.

  4. Funds for GB Energy to be set up in Aberdeen

    Reeves says the government will establish GB Energy, providing funding next year to set up the institution at its new home in Aberdeen, Scotland.

  5. Reeves announces funds for green hydrogen and carbon capture

    The government is committing to "making Britain a clean energy superpower," Reeves says.

    There will be a new, multi-year investment into carbon capture and storage.

    Funding will be provided to 11 new green hydrogen projects across England, Scotland and Wales.

    They’ll be among the first commercial-scale projects in the world, and will be established in several communities, including Bridgend, East Renfrewshire and Barrow-in-Furness, she says.

  6. Chancellor confirms bus fare cap rise to £3
    Breaking

    The chancellor says the single bus fare cap applied to many routes in England will be raised from £2 to £3 - as first revealed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday - extending it for a further year until December 2025.

    The cap was introduced under the previous Conservative government and was due to expire at the end of December.

  7. Reeves pledges £500m to fix roads and potholes

    Reeves says potholes on roads are a reminder of "our failure to invest as a nation".

    She promises a £500m increase for road maintenance next year to deliver on the commitment to fix an additional one million potholes each year.

  8. Reeves commits to funding to embattled HS2 London link
    Breaking

    On HS2 - the high speed rail project - Reeves says they are committing the funding to begin tunnelling work between Old Oak Common, in west London, and Euston.

    It was one of the sections of the multi-billion pound rail project that had been scrapped by the Conservative government.

    Without the link to Euston, people travelling between Birmingham and London would arrive at Old Oak Common and have to take another train to travel into the centre of the capital.

  9. Government will fund Trans-Pennine rail upgrade - chancellor

    "The past government made a number of promises on transport, but it failed to fund them," the chancellor says.

    Reeves announces the government is securing the delivery of the Trans-Pennine upgrade to connect York, Leeds, Huddersfield and Manchester, "delivering fully electric local and regional services between Manchester and Stalybridge by the end of this year."

    She also says the government will deliver East-West Rail to drive growth between Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge.

  10. Spending boost for dangerous cladding removal post-Grenfell report

    Reeves says they will give £1bn to accelerate the removal of dangerous cladding on homes, following the Grenfell Tower report.

  11. The supply of affordable housing is set to increase under provisions in this Budget, Reeves says.

    The government will reduce Right to Buy Discounts. Local authorities, meanwhile, will retain receipts from the sale of any social housing so that it can be reinvested into their existing stock and new supply.

  12. Government to invest £5bn for house building

    The chancellor says the government will invest more than £5bn to deliver their housing plan.

    She says this Budget will increase the Affordable Homes Programme to £3.1bn, provide £3bn worth of support and guarantees to increase the supply of homes and support small housebuilders.

    She promises to provide investment to renovate sites across the country - including at Liverpool Central Docks - to deliver 2000 new homes.

  13. Reeves pledges research funding for engineering, biotechnology and medical science

    Reeves now lays out funding for the science sector.

    She says the government will protect government investments in research and development "to unlock these growth industries of the future" with more than £20bn of funding,

    The chancellor adds it will include at least £6.1bn to protect core research funding for areas like engineering, biotechnology and medical science.

  14. Analysis

    It always pays to wait until the Budget is delivered

    Faisal Islam
    Economics editor

    While briefings about a hefty increase to National Insurance were correct, the suggestion of an ongoing freeze in income tax thresholds was incorrect.

    The chancellor is going to end that freeze from 2028.

    In generally thin pickings, this qualifies as a small white rabbit. She must have been rather tempted to maintain the freeze, the sneakiest of stealth taxes.

    I specifically asked her about this during the election campaign and she did not guarantee she could afford this move. It means that the constant growth of taxpayers being sucked in to higher tax brackets will slow.

  15. Reeves turns to plans for investment

    Reeves is now setting out her plans for investment.

    The government will capitalise the national wealth fund to invest in "industries of the future".

    Building on this, she says they will drive forward a "modern industrial strategy" to set out the sectors with the "biggest growth potential".

    They are today confirming nearly £1bn for the aerospace sector, over £2bn for the automotive sector and up to £520m for a new Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing fund.

  16. Analysis

    Mixed messages on employers' National Insurance

    Simon Jack
    Business editor

    Although increasing employers' National Insurance (NI) by 1.2%, and reducing the threshold at which employers pay it to £5,000 from £9,100 - the chancellor said she would extend the amount employers can claim back from their National Insurance bill from £5,000 to £10,500.

  17. Chancellor: Return to stability will create right conditions for investment

    Reeves says a return to economic stability will create the right condition for investment.

    She says public investment was set to fall under the previous government's plan, but will be expanded under this Budget.

    "I am confirming our investment rule," Reeves says. She adds that she will ensure that the investment will deliver returns for taxpayers.

    She says the government plans to install guardrails to make sure that spending is "wise".

  18. Analysis

    Budget cuts come as criminal justice system is in crisis

    Sima Kotecha
    Senior UK correspondent

    Prisons are full and the criminals courts are facing backlogs that mean defendants, witnesses, and victims are having to wait up to several years before giving evidence. The criminal justice system is in crisis.

    A 2% cut across all government departments will be unwelcome news to the Ministry of Justice as it faces numerous challenges.

    It's promised to sort prisons out and has released thousands of offenders early to ease the pressure on the system. But it’s also committed to more jails and creating an extra fourteen thousand new places.

    Those working closely with the department question how it can stick to the plans - and focus on rehabilitation and sentencing - when having to make cuts?

    As for the courts - barristers tell us they feel let down by what they call a lack of commitment on cutting the tens of thousands of cases in the backlog, with one saying “more funding is what we need and not less”.

  19. Reeves hails 'largest real-terms funding settlement since devolution'

    Reeves says the government will support public services across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, saying this Budget provides devolved governments with the "largest real-terms funding settlement since devolution".

    She says she will provide £3.4bn for the Scottish government to be spent effectively to improve public services in Scotland, £1.7bn to the Welsh government, and £1.5bn to the Northern Ireland executive in 2025-26.

  20. Analysis

    Business rates cliff edge smoothed

    Simon Jack
    Business editor

    The current 75% discount to business rates - due to expire in April 2025 - will be replaced by a discount of 40% - up to a maximum discount of £110k.

    It still means that many businesses will see their business rates nearly double (rather than quadruple).