Chancellor Sets First Budget for Late October
The Chancellor, John Healey, has set the date for the new government’s first Budget for late October, promising to “spread money and power” across the country. The statement will be the fiscal centrepiece of Andy Burnham’s young premiership, and the moment his costly promises on devolution, social care and defence meet the public finances. Mr Healey framed it around shifting resources out of London and the South East.
The Budget will test whether Mr Burnham’s activist agenda can be paid for without tax rises the government has been reluctant to spell out. His plan to let regional mayors keep a share of income tax, his social-care reforms and his defence commitments all carry costs, against a backdrop of sluggish growth and elevated borrowing. The autumn timing gives ministers a few months to prepare the ground, but also invites months of speculation. Choices deferred now will land in October. Watch for the first hints of how the sums add up.