UK cannot afford triple lock pension, OBR says July 8, 2025 The UK government cannot afford to keep the triple lock pension, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has warned. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has faced staunch opposition from within her own party and seemingly from the wider electorate over cuts to welfare spending as she bids to meet fiscal rules that prevent high borrowing from further [...]
Ministers ‘pushed ahead too fast’ on welfare reform, says Phillipson July 6, 2025 Ministers “pushed ahead too fast” and “didn’t listen enough” on welfare reform, the education secretary has said. Bridget Phillipson also said that future spending decisions had been made “harder”, when asked about the prospect of the two-child benefit cap being scrapped. Phillipson told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme that she was “not going [...]
Keir Starmer refuses to rule out £40bn tax raid July 3, 2025 Keir Starmer has refused to rule out that this year’s Autumn Budget will be softer than the tax raid seen last year, which targeted business and homeowners in raising £40bn extra in receipts. The prime minister has previously said that the UK cannot “tax [its] way to growth” while under-pressure Chancellor Rachel Reeves vowed to [...]
Labour versus the bond markets, businesses and ballots July 3, 2025 Birthdays aren’t best celebrated on a hangover but Labour’s senior leaders will be waking up with a painful headache this morning after haemorrhaging support from both bond markets and backbenchers. As dozens of Labour MPs discovered the level of influence they held over whips in parliament, unsympathetic bond traders flexed their own powers as medium-term [...]
Reeves on growth ‘hell slide’ after welfare U-turn as rebels call for wealth tax July 2, 2025 Rachel Reeves faces a “hell slide” in her ambition to balance economic growth with her “iron clad” fiscal rules following Labour’s U-turn on welfare. The Chancellor had hoped government plans for welfare reform would shed £5bn in spending as they targeted restrictions on personal independence payments (PIP) and limited the sickness-related element of universal credit. The [...]
Starmer abandons key welfare reforms July 1, 2025 Keir Starmer has suffered a crushing blow to his authority after rebel Labour MPs forced him to effectively abandon his flagship welfare reform proposals after chaotic scenes in the House of Commons. Just 90 minutes before the vote, and several hours into a heated debate, the government announced it was pulling a key measure of [...]
Will banks be able to escape a Reeves’ tax raid this Autumn? June 27, 2025 As Rachel Reeves watches her fiscal headroom crumble with every Labour U-turn, the Chancellor may return to her budget mantra that those with the “broadest shoulders should bear the heavier burden”. Lenders managed to skirt a tax raid in the 2024 budget after lobbyists warned it could damage the sector’s international competitiveness, but renewed fiscal [...]
Reeves may need larger fiscal buffer to ‘build credibility’ June 27, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves may need to make her headroom larger than £9.9bn in the autumn to restore credibility and fund policy U-turns, an economics think tank has warned, prompting warnings that “unpopular tax hikes” are coming down the line. Proposed welfare reforms saved the government £4.8bn at the Spring Statement in a last minute rush [...]
Labour’s welfare U-turn spikes fears of tax hikes June 27, 2025 The Labour government has confirmed its latest U-turn with a significant retreat on welfare reform dealing a crushing blow to Rachel Reeves’ waning fiscal headroom. The bill initially targeted restrictions on personal independence payments (PIP) and limited the sickness-related element of universal credit in a bid to shed £5bn from the welfare budget by 2030. Under [...]
Labour doubles down on welfare vote despite massive revolt June 25, 2025 The Labour government has doubled down on holding a vote on its controversial welfare bill – worth £4.8bn in savings – as soon as next week, despite opposition from more than 130 of its own backbenchers. Angela Rayner told the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon the government would press ahead with reforms to personal [...]