Autumn Budget 2024: Live updates as Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveils Labour’s £40 billion tax raid
Rachel Reeves has today delivered the biggest tax raid in history after revealing taxes will raise by £40 billion to drive economic growth across Britain.
The country’s first female Chancellor said the country had ‘voted for change’ and vowed to ‘invest, invest, invest’ as she announced huge spending increases for NHS and schools.
But former prime minister Rishi Sunak said the Budget was proof that the public were misled before the election as he accused Labour of ‘fiddling the figures’.
Follow MailOnline’s live coverage of Budget day below and join in the conversation in our comments section
The Budget at a glance: £40 billion tax rise and millions to receive pay increase
Lib Dems – Budget is ‘historic’ but doesn’t offer ‘hope’
This is a very historic day – the first Budget that’s been presented by a female Chancellor (Rachel Reeves). And I want to congratulate the Chancellor and I’m sure she’s blazing the trail for women and girls who are watching our proceedings today.
There can be no doubt about the enormous task that’s facing the Chancellor today. After years of chaos and decline under the Conservatives, their appalling economic legacy, set out so clearly in the figures today, is being felt by people across the United Kingdom.
So people were looking to this Budget for a clean break with those failures of the last few years, for a sense of hope, urgency and the promise of a fair deal.
But I fear the Budget won’t deliver all that. The Conservatives left behind an enormous mess in our NHS but I’m afraid it won’t be fixed unless the Government fixes social care, too. The cost of living crisis won’t be solved by hitting families, pensioners, family farms and struggling small businesses, and our economy won’t grow strongly again unless we repair our broken relationship with Europe.
Rishi Sunak’s Budget response: Everything you need to know
OBR – Tax burden to rise to ‘historic high’
Chancellor hammers firms with NICs hike as inheritances and landlords are targeted
Sunak: ‘Labour did not tell the truth’
Sunak: ‘You name it, they’ll tax it’
Analysis: Reeves rolls the dice on wages rising above inflation
Rachel Reeves decision to hike employer national insurance contributions from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent was no surprise and allows the Chancellor to claim she is keeping Labour’s promise of not raising taxes on working people.
While it won’t show up their pay packet, this is an indirect tax rise for working people. Employers will see the cost of hiring staff and giving employees a pay rise and this will inevitably take its toll on jobs and wages at some point. Reducing the threshold it is charged at to £5,000 will also have a major effect.
Rachel Reeves’s gamble is that her Budget will deliver growth and improved productivity for the UK, meaning our wages will start to consistently rise above inflation.
Whether any Budget boost outweighs the drag of higher employer NI remains to be seen – we won’t know the answer to that for many years.
The Chancellor stopped short of imposing employer NI on pension contributions, however, which would have been a terrible move. We need to increase employer pension contributions rather than impose taxes on them.
Ending the income tax threshold freeze in 2028/2029 rather than extending it is good, but by then the damage to people’s incomes from failing to raise tax bands with inflation or wages for years will have been done.
Sunak claims growth forecast is lower now than it was under the Conservatives
Sunak: ‘Reeves has failed to grip public spending’
Reeves should ‘stop blaming everyone else’ for Budget decisions, says Sunak
OBR gives verdict on Reeves’ Budget
As a result, the size of the state is forecast to settle at 44% of GDP (gross domestic product) by the end of the decade, almost five percentage points higher than before the pandemic.
Sunak claims OBR did not recognise ‘£22bn black hole’
Snap analysis: Winners and losers in Autumn Budget
Sunak: ‘Working people will pay the price’
Rachel Reeves’ Budget summary: Chancellor unveils £40 billion tax raid
Sunak: ‘Labour has not been straight with the British people’
Reeves: ‘I have made responsible choices’
Breaking:Health budget to increase by more than £25 billion
This is the largest real-terms growth in day to day NHS spending outside of Covid since 2010.
Watch: Reeves announces public investment to increase
Department for Education to receive £6.7bn to invest in schools
Reeves confirms HS2 will terminate at Euston
The Transport Secretary has also set out a plan for how to get a grip of HS2.
Today, we are securing delivery of the project between Old Oak Common and Birmingham and we are committing the funding required to begin tunnelling work to London Euston station catalysing private investment into the local area.
Reeves announces funding for 11 new green hydrogen projects
Reeves – Right to Buy discounts to be reduced
I can today confirm that the Government will reduce Right to Buy discounts and local authorities will be able to retain the full receipts from any sales of social housing to reinvest back into their existing stock, and into new supply so that we give more people a safe, secure and affordable place to live.
Watch: Labour to impose VAT on private school fees from January 2025
Reeves extends £3 bus fare cap
Capital gains hike could hit ‘Britain’s army of small investors’
Rachel Reeves has imposed a hefty capital gains tax hike on investors’ profits from stocks and shares, raising rates from 10 per cent to 18 per cent for basic rate taxpayers and 20 per cent to 24 per cent for higher rate band taxpayers.
Capital gains tax hasn’t traditionally been a problem for many small investors, as the tax-free annual allowance was reasonably generous at £12,300.
But that situation shifted dramatically after Jeremy Hunt slashed the annual capital gains tax-free allowance to just £3,000.
This means that Rachel Reeves’ rises has the potential to hit Britain’s army of small investors who have long-term shareholdings built up through work share save schemes and old certificate holdings, which are unlikely to be protected by an Isa wrapper.
Her move highlights how important it is to take advantage of a stocks and shares Isa when investing, which protects you against tax on profits and dividends.
Reeves announces £20bn funding for ‘Growth industries’
Manchester and West Midlands to receive integrated settlements
Watch: Reeves confirms boost of up to £473 in state pension payments
Reeves announces funding package for local governments
Schools to receive cash boost
Reeves announces £2.9bn budget increase for Ministry of Defence
Reeves will not freeze income tax thresholds beyond 2028
Reeves confirms taxes on private school fees
Breaking:Reeves announces cut to alcoholic draught duty
I can confirm that alcohol duty rates on non-draught products will increase in line with RPI from February next year.
But nearly two-thirds of alcoholic drinks sold in pubs are served on draught. So today, instead of uprating these products in line with inflation I am cutting draught duty by 1.7% which means a penny off a pint in the pub.
Reeves increases stamp-duty for second-homes
Breaking:Reeves abolishes non-dom tax
Vaping liquid to be taxed from 2026
I can confirm that the Government will renew the Tobacco Duty escalator for the remainder of this Parliament at RPI+2%, increase duty by a further 10% on hand-rolling tobacco this year, introduce a flat rate duty on all vaping liquid from October 2026, alongside an additional one off- increase in tobacco duty to maintain the incentive to give up smoking.
And we will increase the Soft Drinks Industry Levy to account for inflation since it was introduced as well as increasing the duty in line with CPI each year going forward. These measures will raise nearly £1bn per year by the end of the forecast period.
Reeves increases air passenger duty rates
Watch: Reeves increases minimum wages and carer earning limit
Reeves increases tobacco duty
Inheritance tax thresholds frozen for a further two years
Only 6% of estates will pay inheritance tax this year. I understand the strongly held desire to pass down savings to children and grandchildren. So I am taking a balanced approach in my package today.
First, the previous government froze inheritance tax thresholds until 2028. I will extend that freeze for a further two years, until 2030.
That means the first £325,000 of any estate can be inherited tax-free rising to £500,000 if the estate includes a residence passed to direct descendants and £1m when a tax free allowance is passed to a surviving spouse or civil partner.
Reeves increases higher and lower rates of capital gains tax
Reeves announces increase in employment allowance
Breaking:Increase in National Insurance contributions to raise £25 billion
We will increase the rate of Employers’ National Insurance by 1.2 percentage points, to 15%, from April 2025. And we will reduce the Secondary Threshold – the level at which employers start paying national insurance on each employee’s salary – from £9,100 per year to £5,000.
This will raise £25bn per year by the end of the forecast period. I know that this is a difficult choice. I do not take this decision lightly.
Breaking:Fuel duty frozen for another year
Reeves – Inflation will average 2.5% this year
Today, the OBR says 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% in 2029.
The OBR forecast that real GDP growth will be 1.1% in 2024, 2% in 2025, 1.8% in 2026, 1.5% in 2027, 1.5% in 2028 and 1.6% in 2029. And the OBR are clear: this Budget will permanently increase the supply capacity of the economy, boosting long-term growth.
Breaking:Reeves increases national living wage
Watch: Reeves announces compensation for infected blood and post office scandal victims
Breaking:Reeves to appoint ‘Covid Corruption Commissioner’
Breaking:Borrowing to reach £127 billion this year
Today we are setting a 2% productivity, efficiency and savings target for all departments to meet next year by using technology more effectively and joining up services across government.
Breaking:Reeves to raise taxes £40 BILLION
Reeves announces compensation for blood scandal and Post Office scandal victims
Reeves: ‘Tories hid the reality of their public spending plans’
Watch: Reeves says she’s ‘deeply proud’ to be the first female Chancellor
Breaking:Rachel Reeves takes to the dispatch box to deliver the Budget
Watch: Starmer jokes Sunak may end up back as Tory leader at PMQs
PM is ‘throwing veterans to the wolves’, says Tory MP
Watch: Prime Minister pays tribute to Rishi Sunak during last PMQs appearance
Starmer: ‘MPs can support or undermine police’
Keir Starmer questioned on Middle East conflict
Sunak: ‘I am proud to be the first British and Asian PM’
Rishi Sunak will spend more time in Yorkshire after stepping down as Tory leader
Watch: Rachel Reeves delivers Budget
A final farewell for Rishi Sunak
Rachel Reeves to unveil £3bn boost for defence
James Cleverly pokes fun at Labour ahead of the Budget
Pictured: Keir Starmer leaves No 10 ahead of the Budget
Under an hour to go…
What is the famous Budget red box?
Pictured: Rachel Reeves poses with the famous red Budget box
Breaking:Rachel Reeves appears outside Downing Street ahead of the Budget
Watch: Voters damning verdict on Labour ahead of Budget
Savers rush to top up Isas and pensions ahead of the Budget
‘This will shoot Labour firmly in the foot’: MailOnline readers have their say on Budget
looks like she’s really going to stick it to employers large & small, Employers NI contributions & an increase in minimum wage. This will prevent recruitment and harm retention…super markets will just pass the price on through goods on the shelves. Very shortsighted incompetent government playing at GCSE politics
While hearing a lot about a huge injection of cash going to the NHS and other public services I’ve yet to hear any talk of demanding more productivity and value for money in return such as seven day twenty four hour a day hospital operations and consultations to clear an enormous backlog that’s far more important than any mythical black hole in the finances. Dream on I guess when the Tories were too afraid to take that sensible step there’s no way this current mob are going to upset their union paymasters as we’ve already seen.
Lots of unemployment coming as firms can’t afford more tax on employing people. This will shoot Labour firmly in the foot. They know they won’t get elected again. A minimum wage for the type of job would be a good idea. There are still lorry drivers who get £12 per hour whereas it’s a highly skilled job that would deserve at least a minimum of £18 per hour. Not just above the current minimum wage. Shelf stackers in supermarkets get more.
Has she left anything to be announced in the budget as most of it seems to have been either leaked or announced already
More often than not the trains on northern rail don’t turn up. So in order to get to work you have to either get a taxi which eat into your salary when it happens or catch a bus which they are now saying that the fixed price cap of two pounds is going by a pound to three pounds. Then these charlatans say they are not taxing the working man. The sooner we get rid of stealing Starmer and robbing Reeves the better.
Labour will impose ‘extra taxes on working people’, says shadow Minister
Watch: Labour MPs arrive at No10 ahead of today’s Budget
Rachel Reeves at risk of ‘hammering the hopes’ of first-time buyers
Rachel Reeves appears set to hammer the hopes of many first-time buyers if she scraps the increased stamp duty thresholds in the budget.
Young Brits hoping for that first foot on the ladder face now forking out for fees they may have not factored into their costs.
The long-term effect of the Chancellor’s cost-saving call could be market stagnation after the March deadline elapses, with people simply staying put rather than moving on.
What we need from the government is more support for affordable housing schemes to help first-time buyers who are now likely looking at more time living with mum and dad, or spending more money renting.
Pictured: Budget protesters outside Downing Street
Government will choose ‘investment over decline’, says Rachel Reeves
Revealed: How Reeves’ huge tax raid compares with other chancellors
Labour Mayor confirms he will not impose £3 bus fare cap
We will proceed with our plan to introduce a new simpler, flatter fare structure based around a £2 single fare.
This said, it is only by the middle of 2025 when we have completed phase 1 of the Bee Network, and we know the level of government funding we have, that we will be in a position to judge the financial outlook for the new system.
Keir Starmer: ‘This is a huge day for Britain’
Jittery markets push up interest rates on government’s debt mountain
‘Labour lied to the public’ about taxes, says shadow Minister
During the election campaign, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves said nothing in their plans required tax increases that went over and above what was in their manifesto, that was quite limited.
And from all the pre-briefing we’ve seen, it now looks very likely, near-certain, there are going to be enormous tax increases coming despite the fact they told the public in the election campaign that wouldn’t happen, and so I think they lied to the British public.
They misled the British public in order to get elected, and now we’re seeing their true colours.
Pictured: Cabinet members arrive at Downing Street ahead of the Budget
Analysis: History-making Chancellor may enter record books for the wrong reasons
Liz Truss: ‘It’s going to be a very painful day’
This is what I tried to stop back in 2022, taxes were going higher, businesses were closing down, people are leaving the country.
We have the highest rate of millionaires leaving the country of any country in the world and what Labour seem hell bent on doing is making it even worse.
So putting the taxes up by £35bn, making the net zero rule so tough that it kills business because they can’t get cheap energy. We’ve seen the steel industry go under and we’re seeing refineries go under.
I fear this is just the start of the pain, it’s going to be a very painful day. But what will happen is because the taxes are going so high it will stop businesses investing in this country.
Budget will only ‘arrest the decline’ of the NHS, says health secretary
There’s no beating about the bush about it – whether it’s the size of the waiting list, the fact that people can’t guarantee an ambulance turns up on time, the struggle to get a GP appointment or a dentist, the waits in A&E, the NHS is not just on its knees, it’s on its face.
I think people are realistic. They know that we’re not going to turn the NHS around in just a few months or in a single Budget.
It’s going to take time and that’s why the Chancellor is prioritising the NHS in her Budget.
We are linking that investment also to reform, because everything I said in opposition about waste and inefficiency in the NHS, the need to improve productivity, and we can’t keep on pouring more money in without reform – all of those things stand.
How will the NHS benefit from the Budget?
Unless we’ve got a growing economy with more good jobs paying decent wages, then you’re not going to be able to either improve living standards or bring in the tax revenue to improve our public services alongside the reform that’s needed.
But we do need that immediate injection of cash now, because otherwise we won’t be able to arrest the decline in the health service.
So that immediate injection, but then it’s through growth and reform that we ensure our public services are properly funded.
Labour accused of breaching its own manifesto
Rachel Reeves promised that her plans were fully funded, and she promised that she wouldn’t change the debt target because that would be “fiddling the figures”.
We already know that those promises are totally worthless because she is going to change her fiscal rules so she can go on a borrowing spree.
If she was to compound that by breaking her promise to the British people not to raise taxes on working people by increasing National Insurance, that would be a complete betrayal.
But businesses say hike will mean ‘fewer jobs overall’
The Government have been clear about their ambitions for the national minimum wage and its importance in supporting workers’ living standards. At the same time, employers have had to deal with the adult rate rising over 20 per cent in two years.
Millions to receive pay boost after living wage increase
What can we expect in today’s Budget?
Rachel Reeves profile: The prodigal chess player in charge of Britain’s finances
What is the Budget? And when will it be unveiled?
Good morning
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The Budget at a glance: £40 billion tax rise and millions to receive pay increase
-
Rishi Sunak’s Budget response: Everything you need to know
-
OBR – Tax burden to rise to ‘historic high’
-
Chancellor hammers firms with NICs hike as inheritances and landlords are targeted
-
Snap analysis: Winners and losers in Autumn Budget
-
Rachel Reeves’ Budget summary: Chancellor unveils £40 billion tax raid
-
Health budget to increase by more than £25 billion
-
Schools to receive cash boost
-
Reeves announces cut to alcoholic draught duty
-
Inheritance tax thresholds frozen for a further two years
-
Increase in National Insurance contributions to raise £25 billion
-
Fuel duty frozen for another year
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Reeves to raise taxes £40 BILLION
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Rachel Reeves takes to the dispatch box to deliver the Budget
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Watch: Rachel Reeves delivers Budget
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Rachel Reeves to unveil £3bn boost for defence
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Rachel Reeves appears outside Downing Street ahead of the Budget
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Revealed: How Reeves’ huge tax raid compares with other chancellors
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Labour Mayor confirms he will not impose £3 bus fare cap
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‘Labour lied to the public’ about taxes, says shadow Minister
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Labour accused of breaching its own manifesto
-
What can we expect in today’s Budget?
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What is the Budget? And when will it be unveiled?
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