Overview
- Chancellor John Healey delivered his first Budget on 28 October 2026, pitching the package as 'breathing space' for households and the start of longer-term plans to cut energy bills.
- Reported immediate measures include a freeze on fuel duty, tariff cuts on more than 100 imported foods, a roughly 4% rise in the minimum wage, and a permanent 55p per mile tax-free business mileage rate.
- Treasury sources and multiple outlets said the package will be paid for mainly through targeted revenue steps such as a bank profits surcharge and tighter rules for online marketplaces rather than broad rises in income or capital gains tax.
- Healey formally committed to Labour's fiscal rules requiring day-to-day spending to be financed by taxes by 2029/30 and signalled that detailed plans to meet NATO defence spending targets will be deferred to the next spending review.
- Several reports warned that higher levies on banks risk prompting firms to consider moving operations overseas while rising borrowing costs and public debt above £3 trillion sharply constrain bigger giveaways.