Day of chaos in Parliament as Chancellor appears to backtrack on promise to reduce welfare payments Daily Telegraph 29/10/26 The Prime Minister and Chancellor visited a community centre after the Budget on Wednesday Credit : Richard Pohle/The Times John Healey has been forced to admit there will be no cuts to Britain’s welfare bill before the next general election. In a day of chaos in Parliament, the Chancellor appeared to suggest in the morning that Labour would reduce the benefits bill before the next national vote. Treasury sources downplayed Mr Healey’s remarks later on Thursday, before Mr Burnham’s spokesman insisted that the Government “never set an arbitrary target or timetable”. On Thursday evening, Mr Healey then said the welfare bill would not be reduced before the next election. He told Channel 4 News : “We’re certainly committed to bringing the cost of the welfare bill down. I’ve said that, the Prime Minister’s said that. “It is not correct to say that we set any sc...
John Healey has delivered his first Budget to the House of Commons. Below, we summarise the key tax and spending policies he announced, as well as official economic forecasts. You can also follow our live blog over here . Economy Energy Taxes Defence Welfare Business support Workers Pensioners Public Spending Devolution Economy Government borrowing costs to be £14bn higher this year as a result of higher debt interest, as global turmoil makes bond markets nervous. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicts Britain will have fiscal headroom of £15bn in 2029-30, rising to £22bn in 2030-31. The headroom is the financial cushion the Chancellor has to fund day-to-day spending without borrowing. Budget deficit to be “eliminated” in three years. Borrowing to fall from 4.4pc of GDP to 4.2pc this year. Then 3.4pc in 2027-28, 2.9pc in 2028-29, 2.1pc in 2029-30, and 1.8pc for the following two years. Debt to fall steadily from 83.2pc of GDP this year to 81.7pc by 2031-32. OBR forec...