The UK government has confirmed that its first Budget under Prime Minister Andy Burnham will be presented on Wednesday, October 28, with Chancellor John Healey promising a plan focused on economic stability, regional development and responsible public spending.
Announcing the date in a video message, Healey said the Budget would aim to shift resources and decision-making away from Westminster and give more power to communities across the country.
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“This will be a Budget that moves money and power out of Westminster and into every postcode around Britain,” he said. “It will be built on fiscal discipline, meet our fiscal rules and give businesses and families the stability they need to plan for the future.”
Since taking office earlier this month, Prime Minister Burnham has pledged to stick to Labour’s fiscal rules while honouring key promises made in the party’s 2024 election manifesto. These include commitments not to increase income tax, Value Added Tax (VAT) or National Insurance contributions.
The government has also promised to balance day-to-day public spending with tax revenues by the end of the decade, a target inherited from the previous Labour administration under former Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
However, economists have warned that achieving those goals may prove difficult. An influential think tank recently suggested the government has only a narrow financial margin and may have to either reduce spending or find new sources of revenue to fund priorities such as increased defence spending and improvements to social care.
Healey, who previously served as Defence Secretary, had resigned from that role after disagreeing over defence spending, arguing that the UK should increase military spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030. The current government has not yet committed to that target.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting recently said ministers would explain how any future spending commitments would be funded before making firm financial promises.
The government has already introduced several measures aimed at easing the cost of living, including plans to remove VAT from household electricity bills.
Burnham has also announced proposals to give elected mayors in England a share of income tax revenue for the first time, allowing them to invest directly in local priorities. The move forms part of Labour’s wider plan to devolve more powers over housing, transport and economic development to regional authorities.
More details of the devolution plan are expected to be unveiled during the October Budget, although ministers have stressed that income tax rates themselves will not increase as part of the reforms.
Opposition parties have criticised the government’s spending plans, arguing that the Budget must provide clear details on how new policies will be financed and whether further tax measures will be required to support Labour’s agenda.
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