The Chancellor has confirmed the date of her second Budget today, amid market turmoil and a stark warning from Liz Truss.
Rachel Reeves will confirm the date of the Budget (Image: Getty)
Rachel Reeves has unveiled the date of her second long-anticipated Budget today, amid increasing turmoil in the financial markets as investors begin betting against Britain. The Chancellor has selected November 26 as the date she will unveil tens of billions in new tax hikes for hard-pressed families, as she scrambles to fill a £40 billion fiscal black hole.
The Treasury confirmed the date this morning, notifying the Office for Budget Responsibility that they have 10 weeks to put together their economic projects which will confirm how much cash Rachel Reeves needs to find through extra taxes or spending cuts. A November 26 Budget is very late in the year compared to previous Autumn budgets, heavily hinting that the Treasury has been struggling to make its sums add up. Yesterday the Prime Minister’s spokesman insisted Labour had taken decisions “to stabilise Britain’s finances and kickstart economic growth”.
Borrowing costs have soared to a 27-year-high (Image: Market tracker)
However he refused to comment on recent market turmoil, which has seen Britain’s borrowing costs surge to a 27-year-high.
The country’s gilt yields, the interest rate on money the government borrows, hit 5.72% yesterday, much higher than even during Liz Truss’s mini budget in 2022, which forced her to reverse her tax cuts and eventually depart No. 10 after just 49 days.
Yesterday the pound also fell more than 1% against the Dollar, prompting further uncertainty.
Ms Reeves said the economy is “not working well enough”.
In a video on X, the Chancellor said: “Britain’s economy isn’t broken. But I know it’s not working well enough for working people.
“Bills are high. Getting ahead feels tougher. You put more in, get less out. That has to change.
“We’ve got huge potential – world-leading brands, dynamic industries, brilliant universities, and a skilled workforce. We’re a global hub for trade.
“Fixing the foundations has been my mission this past year. We raised the minimum wage for three million people; cut NHS waiting lists; started tearing up planning rules to build 1.5 million new homes; promised billions more for the country’s infrastructure; secured trade deals with the US, India, and the EU; and changed Treasury rules so investment reaches every part of the country.
“But I’m not satisfied. There’s more to do. Cost of living pressures are still real.
“And we must bring inflation and borrowing costs down by keeping a tight grip on day-to-day spending through our non-negotiable fiscal rules. It’s only by doing this can we afford to do the things we want to do.
“If renewal is our mission and growth is our challenge. Investment and reform are our tools. The tools to building an economy that works for you – and rewards you. More pounds in your pocket. An NHS there when you need it. Opportunity for all.
“Those are my priorities. The priorities of the British people. And it is what I am determined to deliver.”
This morning, Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride warned that Rachel Reeves is now heading for economic “disaster”, adding that the markets are voting “no confidence” in the Chancellor.
He said: “The UK’s borrowing costs just hit a 27-year high, it’s a clear warning from the markets and a clear vote of no confidence in Labour.
“When a government borrows and spends like there’s no tomorrow, we all pay the price. Labour promised stability, instead we got soaring debt, doubled inflation and collapsing business confidence.
“Now the Chancellor is planning even more tax rises this autumn. Rachel Reeves is taxing your future to pay for her failure.”
Liz Truss said Reeves is leading Britain towards economic ‘calamity’ (Image: Getty)
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss said the economy is now in a much worse state under Labour, adding: “We are heading for economic calamity”.
She told The Master Investor podcast she feels no sympathy for Ms Reeves, arguing “these are the people who bought into everything. The economic establishment set.
“They know what happened in 2022, and politically they sought to blame me, even though the Bank of England has subsequently said two-thirds of the spike in the market was down to their failures to regulate pension funds. They’ve used it relentlessly politically against me.
“They’ve repudiated all the ideas I put forward, like keeping taxes low, getting on with fracking, doing necessary deregulation, and now, you know, guilt yields are higher than they were when I was in office.
“The economy is in a much worse state. Debt has risen, and I just see Reeves and Starmer as part of the economic orthodoxy that has ruined this country, and we are heading for a calamity because of that.”
