Overview
- The Prime Minister will promote measures he says will ease pressures in 2026, including a £150 cut to energy bills from April, a higher national living wage, a rail fare freeze, capped bus fares and an extension of the fuel duty cut until September.
- At the first cabinet meeting of 2026, Keir Starmer will instruct ministers that there must be no let-up in efforts to reduce household costs and to find further ways to cut bills.
- Starmer told the BBC he expects to remain in office next year and said he will be sitting in the same seat by 2027, arguing frequent leadership changes are not in the national interest.
- Government sources argue their plan is working, pointing to six interest rate cuts, lower inflation and mortgage costs at their lowest since the 2022 mini‑budget period.
- Political pressure continues as Reform UK leads many polls and senior Conservative Kemi Badenoch attacks Labour’s record, while Labour MP Dan Carden publicly warns against any move toward a Customs Union with the EU in line with the 2024 manifesto pledge.