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
Reeves announces that employers' National Insurance contributions will rise from 13.8% to 15%.
In addition, the threshold at which businesses start paying National Insurance on a workers' earnings will be lowered from £9,100 to £5,000.
Reeves says she will not increase National Insurance, VAT and income tax for working people.
Reeves says increasing fuel duty next year would be the wrong choice for working people.
It would mean fuel duty rising by 7p per litre.
She says she will freeze fuel duty next year and will maintain the existing 5p cut for another year, too. There will be no higher taxes at the petrol pumps next year, she says.
Labour will make sure that "the people who powered our country receive the pension they are owed", Reeves says.
That will follow a government commitment to the triple lock. Spending on the state pension is projected to rise 4.1% in 2025-26 – that is a £470 increase for over 12 million pensioners in the UK, Reeves says.
Reeves now says her government will protect working people from unfair dismissal, safeguard them from bullying in the workplace, and improve their access to paternity and maternity leave.
Faisal Islam
Economics editor
Forty billion pounds of tax rises is simply huge, and is one of the very largest tax rising Budgets outside of a time of recession.
The chancellor sought to heap the blame for this on her “fictitious” public finances inheritance.
The mood music from her aides is very much that this is a “one off” designed to deal with that specific problem.
The question is how much of this really was a surprise, and whether they really will believe the chancellor will not return for more at a later date.
Reeves announces a new "Fair Repayment Rate" that will reduce the level of debt repayments that can be taken from a household’s Universal Credit payment each month, reducing it from 25% to 15% of their standard allowance.
Says this will help 1.2 million of the poorest households, who will be able to keep more of their award each month.
Dharshini David
Chief economics correspondent
At first sight, it appears that the OBR’s growth and inflation forecasts for the next couple of years are higher than most economists including the bank of England expect – i.e. this Budget significantly boosts both.
That may risk interest rates falling more slowly than currently forecast.
On the Carer's Allowance, Reeves says the amount that carers can earn and still receive the allowance will rise to the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage per week.
A carer can now earn over £10,000 a year whilst receiving the allowance, which will allow them to "keep more of their money", Reeves says.
Carer’s Allowance currently provides up to £81.90 per week to those with additional caring responsibilities.
Dearbail Jordan
Business reporter
Those forecasts by the OBR on economic growth are quite a change from what it predicted in the spring under the Tories.
It now says economy will grow by faster than expected this and next year. However, the UK economy will not expand as quickly as the OBR predicted for 2026, 2027 and 2028.
The chancellor has already said that a review of the spending figures presented by the Tories to the OBR for the spring Budget means forecasts would be "materially different" so perhaps it is hard to compare.
Image source, PA MediaJust before the minimum wage increase was announced, Reeves said that the government would crack down on fraud.
She adds that the government will publish a “Get Britain Working” white paper designed to get those who are unemployed back to work and reduce the strain on the benefits system.
There will be a new crackdown on tax avoidance, Reeves adds.
As announced yesterday, Reeves says the National Living Wage for people aged 21 or older will rise by 6.7% from £11.44 an hour to £12.21 from next April.
Earlier this year the Low Pay Commission, external recommended that the National Living Wage should increase by 5.8% to £12.10, but the chancellor has gone slightly further.
In addition, the National Minimum Wage will rise for people aged between 18 and 20-years old from £8.60 to £10.
Apprentices will get the biggest pay bump, with hourly pay increasing from £6.40 to £7.55.
The chancellor says she will reduce wasteful spending and sets out a 2% productivity savings target for government departments.
She also announces the appointment of a Covid corruption commissioner.
Reeves also confirms that David Goldstone has been appointed as the chair of the new Office for Value for Money, "to help us realise the benefits from every pound of public spending".
Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent
Forty billion – that’s the amount Rachel Reeves has confirmed the Budget will increase taxes by.
All numbers sound big when you’re talking about the public finances. But rest assured, that is a really very big number.
Rachel Reeves instantly said that “any chancellor standing here today” would have to do the same if they wanted to be “responsible” and “rebuild public services”.
She is making a political judgment that the public will agree that any pain incurred from tax rises is both inevitable and necessary.
The Conservatives will argue that a significant chunk of this is not inevitable, but instead a political choice made by a political party ideologically predisposed to tax and spend.
Reeves says Budget will raise taxes by £40bn
Reeves says they cannot undo "14 years of damage in one go", and they will work according to the stability rule.
The stability rule, Reeves says, means they will bring the current Budget into balance so they don't borrow to fund day-to-day spending.
She says net borrowing will decrease over time.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves: Invest, invest, invest
Reeves has outlined the key principles that the Labour Budget will cover.
Key among them, she says, is restoring economic stability to Britain, and increasing investment.
She adds that the government will ensure that all of the UK can meet its potential.
Additionally, the government aims to tackle economic inactivity, and expand opportunities for small and medium sized businesses.
There will be increased funding for science, and investment in carbon capture and storage.
Reeves says the OBR has published a detailed assessment of Labour's policies for the next decade.
Listing its forecasts, she says real GDP growth will be 1.1% in 2024, 2.0% in 2025, 1.8% in 2026, 1.5% in 2027, 1.5% in 2028, and 1.6% in 2029.
"This Budget will permanently increase the supply capacity of the economy, boosting long-term growth," she says.
Faisal Islam
Economics editor
A punchy start from the chancellor on her economic inheritance, seeking to heap the blame for all these tough decisions on her predecessors.
“Their austerity broke the National Health Service. Their Brexit deal harmed British businesses. And their mini-Budget left families paying the price with higher mortgages," she said.
As I reported earlier, the OBR review of the last Budget process concludes the previous government "did not provide the OBR with all the information available to them” and would have led to a “materially different” forecast.
Reeves said they will list hundreds of examples of spending pressures that they have to fund, that were not made clear.
Reeves now sets out inflation predictions.
She says today, the OBR say CPI inflation will average 2.5% this year, 2.6% in 2025, then 2.3% in 2026, 2.1% in 2027, 2.1% in 2028 and 2.0% in 2029.
The chancellor now thanks her predecessors for their "wise counsel" as she prepared for the Budget, including Kwasi Kwarteng who she quotes as admitting his mini-Budget was "not perfect".
The House erupts into laughter and jeering.