Overview
- The chancellor will deliver the Autumn Budget on 26 November, seeking revenue to close a widely reported multi‑billion‑pound gap without breaking Labour’s core tax pledges.
- Officials have confirmed a crackdown on illegal vapes, giving Border Force and HMRC on‑the‑spot seizure powers and fines of up to £10,000 for rogue traders.
- Reporting points to a ‘smorgasbord’ of revenue options under consideration, including a two‑year extension of frozen income tax thresholds, higher gambling duties, property levies, and limits on pension salary‑sacrifice relief.
- Economic readings show strain ahead of the statement, with weak November PMI signals, a fall in October retail sales, and borrowing above OBR projections as markets watch for fiscal credibility.
- Politics sharpened in the run‑up, with Reeves saying she is “sick of people mansplaining,” opponents accusing her of playing a sexism card, experts describing a ‘lastminute.com’ process, and Starmer declining to rule out threshold freezes in a TV interview.