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5h ago

Healey Prepares First Budget With Limited Fiscal Room

Updated OBR forecasts and higher borrowing costs will push him to use narrow revenue measures such as higher bank levies to fund targeted household support.

Andy Burnham and John Healey at a food bank in Liverpool. The Chancellor has committed to sticking with Labour’s 2024 manifesto, ruling out rises to income tax, NI for employees or VAT (Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty)
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Overview

  • Chancellor John Healey will deliver his first Budget in the House of Commons at about 12.30pm on Wednesday, October 28, laying out tax and spending plans under tight fiscal constraints.
  • The Treasury is expected to favour modest, targeted help for households, including an expanded Warm Home Discount, rather than broad unfunded giveaways.
  • Ministers are reported to be planning higher taxes on banks, including a bigger bank profits surcharge or a windfall-style levy, to pay for the package.
  • Business groups warn that bank levies and other narrow tax rises could be passed on to customers or deter investment while unions call for measures such as ending the income tax threshold freeze and a National Wealth Fund.
  • The OBR will publish updated growth and inflation forecasts alongside the Budget and Healey has pledged to stick to existing fiscal rules as he seeks to reassure markets over debt that has risen to around £3 trillion.