Budget 2024 updates: Reeves vows to ‘invest, invest, invest’ in move away from dire Budget rhetoric
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to deliver Labour’s first Budget in 14 years on Wednesday in the House of Commons.
The Chancellor is expected to move away from the bleak language that has dominated in the lead up to the Budget, with a promise to “reject austerity” and put “more pounds in people’s pockets”.
“Invest, invest, invest” will be the theme – with funding promised for hospitals, homes and schools.
She has repeatedly warned that it will involve “difficult decisions” and some tax rises and spending cuts are expected, although the Government has said that they won’t raise taxes on workers’ payslips.
Reeves will say: “My belief in Britain burns brighter than ever. And the prize on offer to today is immense.”
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Army to get £3bn cash boost in Budget
Rachel Reeves will announce a funding boost of £3bn for the armed forces in the Budget today, The Telegraph has reported.
The increase in defence spending is expected to be announced in her speech and will mean that spending on the military will remain at 2.3 per cent of GDP.
There have been calls for defence spending to rise to 2.5 per cent of GDP, with the armed forces grappling with numerous funding challenges, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said last week that a plan for that would be announced “in due course”.
The cash influx announced by Reeves on Wednesday will fund the purchase of weapons to replenish stockpiles depleted by donations to Ukraine, cover the £400mn bill of giving soldiers a 6 per cent pay rise backdated to April and aid the growth of the domestic defence industry.
The £2.9bn cash injection is expected to be a one off funding boost while the Government carries out a review into the future of defence spending.
All the changes Rachel Reeves could make at the Budget and how they could affect you
After months of speculation, Rachel Reeves will finally deliver her Budget this Wednesday.
The Chancellor has signalled there will be multiple tax rises ahead, as she seeks to raise as much as £40bn extra a year.
But what policies could be announced when she stands up in Parliament? Below, i takes a look at what she could unveil in the fiscal event.
- A freeze to income tax thresholds until 2030
- An increase to national insurance paid by employers
- Increase to fuel duty
- A reduction to the pension tax-free lump sum
- Changes to capital gains tax
- Inheritance tax reliefs removed
- Gifting rules for inheritance tax changed
- Cut to sickness benefits
- Cut to tax-free savings
- Doubling the building of social housing
- Change to debt rules to boost investment
- Pay-per-mile car tax introduction
- Changes to the Lifetime ISA
- Alcohol duty
Read more about all of the above here.
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves will attempt to move away from the gloomy rhetoric that has characterised the lead up to the Budget with a promise to “invest, invest, invest” in her speech today to get “more pounds in people’s pockets”.
In the autumn Budget that Reeves is due to present on Wednesday, the Chancellor is expected to say: “My belief in Britain burns brighter than ever. And the prize on offer today is immense.”
Reeves will “reject austerity” and announce funding for hospitals, homes and schools – without raising taxes for working people – while money will be saved by “cracking down on fraud, tax avoidance and waste”.