Exact date of Labour Government’s first budget revealed as Chancellor announces sweeping cuts
LABOUR’S first government Budget will be unveiled by Rachel Reeves on October 30.
The Chancellor is set to announce a series of sweeping tax raids and a strain on spending in time for Halloween.
Capital gains and inheritance are among the levies being eyed up for a hike.
And a 20 per cent VAT charge will be slapped on private schools for terms starting on or after January 1 2025.
In a blow for millions of OAPs, universal winter fuel payments will be slashed.
Only those on specific benefits like Pension Credit will qualify for up to £300 in heating bill help starting this year.
But income tax, national insurance and VAT beyond fee-paying schools will be protected.
At the Budget Ms Reeves will also confirm any changes to the cost of cigarettes, alcohol and fuel.
It comes as the Chancellor today claimed to have found a series of financial timebombs left by the Tories that she insisted will force her to make tough choices on spending.
In a gloom-ridden Commons speech Ms Reeves laid the ground for an Autumn of tax rises.
In her statement, Ms Reeves:
- PAVED the way for tax rises at the next Budget on October 30
- ACCUSED the Tories of “covering up” the dire state of the nation’s finances
- ORDERED Cabinet colleagues to find £3billion worth of savings in departments
- CUT funding for government consultants costing hundreds of millions
- AXED various transport projects like the Stonehenge tunnel and the A27 works
- SCRAPPED Rishi Sunak’s plan for a new Advanced British Standard qualification
She told MPs: “Before the election, I said that we would face the worst inheritance since the Second World War.
“Taxes at a 70-year high, debt through the roof, an economy only just coming out of recession.
“I knew all of these things. I was honest about them during the campaign.”
But, she added there were costs that Rishi Sunak “covered up from the country”.
She said there was a “£22 billion hole in the public finances now, not in the future, but now”.
Ms Reeves added: “The inheritance from the previous government is unforgivable.
“Roads that would never be built.
“Public transport that would never arrive. Hospitals that would never treat a single patient.
“They spent like there was no tomorrow, because they knew that someone else would pick up the bill and then in the election – and perhaps this is the most shocking part – they campaigned on a platform to do it all over again.”
Despite the black hole in the public purse, Ms Reeves did announce inflation-busting pay rises of 5.5 per cent for public sector workers such as teachers, soldiers, police officers and civil servants.
And junior doctors are in line for a monster 22 per cent wage hike over two years in a bid to end their persistent strike action that is crippling hospitals.