Image source, Getty ImagesChancellor John Healey said his first budget would be built around fiscal discipline
ByJennifer McKiernan, Political reporter and Emer Moreau, Business reporter
Chancellor John Healey has announced the date of his first Budget will be Wednesday, 28 October.
In a video message, he said: “This will be a Budget that moves money and power out of Westminster, and into every postcode around Britain.
“It will be built on fiscal discipline. It will meet our fiscal rules. It’ll give businesses and families some of the stability they need to plan for the future. Now, let’s get on with the job.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said his government will stick to Labour’s fiscal rules on spending and borrowing as well as the party’s 2024 manifesto pledges not to increase income tax, VAT or national insurance contributions.
Burnham also said he will honour the fiscal rules imposed by Healey’s predecessor Rachel Reeves, which include a pledge to balance day-to-day spending with tax revenues by the end of the decade.
An influential think tank said earlier this week that the prime minister only has a small margin of error to do this, and that Healey may have to cut spending or raise taxes to meet Burnham’s policy priorities such as such as extra defence spending and better social care.
Reeves left a £22bn buffer in her last budget, but persistent inflation due to the Iran war could have eroded it.
Burnham has also announced a host of new cost-of-living policies since taking office earlier this month, including scrapping of VAT from domestic electricity bills.
On Friday, the PM said he would give all mayors of city regions in England a share of income tax revenue for the first time, as part of his efforts to move power out of London.
More details on what portion of taxes the mayors will get are expected to be announced in the Budget.
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