Autumn Budget Live: Wealthy, landlords and pensions hit in £26bn tax raid
Welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog.
In a shocking turn of events the UK fiscal watchdog has accidentally released the economic forecasts – intended to be published after the Budget – before the Chancellor even took to the despatch box.
Rachel Reeves has raised taxes by £26bn in her second Budget, which follows on from last year’s £40bn.
Taxes collected as a share of GDP are set to jump to an all-time high in the coming years, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in its leaked report.
They will go up to well over 38 per cent of GDP by 2030, the OBR said, a significant upward revision from their March forecast of around 37 per cent.
That compares to 35 per cent in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
The fiscal watchdog has also warned of the “vulnerable” position left by the Budget.
“While this Budget addresses some fiscal risks and increases the margin held against the government’s fiscal targets, it still leaves the UK public finances relatively vulnerable to future shocks,” the report said.
At the beginning of her speech, Reeves described the watchdog’s leak as “deeply disappointing, and a serious error on their part”.
“The Office for Budget Responsibility have already made a statement taking responsibility for their breach.”
The continued frenzy follows an anything but a steady drive to today, with the House of Commons speaker even reprimanding the government for its ‘hokey cokey’ briefings.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest news as we get it as well as the top analysis and breakdowns and at 2pm tune don’t forget to tune into our live broadcast with Editor-in-Chief Christian May, Opinion Editor Alys Denby and a host of top guests to breakdown the Budget.
Stay tuned for updates for more updates but here are the top lines from the Budget so far:
- Income tax thresholds frozen until 2030
- Gambling duties hiked on betting companies
- A new mileage-based tax on battery-powered and hybrid cars
- A mansion tax on properties worth over £2m
- A freeze to fuel duty
- Applying National Insurance on salary sacrificing pensions