Key Points
The new Labour government plans to front-load the bad news, leaving as much time as possible to repair and rebuild the economy before the next election in five years time...
During the election campaign, Reeves promised the British public she would always level with them and now in office, has wasted little time..
As a result, many economists expected a one-year spending review to give the economy time to pick up and limit the tax rises needed to repair public services at a multiyear spending review in late 2025...
Reeves will also stick to the fiscal framework in the manifesto that gives her very little headroom for borrowing, the Treasury said.. Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said she expects the 16.4 billion shortfall to be filled by 10 billion of tax rises and 7 billion of extra borrowing...
Reeves said she would keep that protection in place, but announced changes to winter fuel payments a policy launched by former Labour Chancellor Gordon Brown in 1997 that means mean only pensioners in receipt of benefits will qualify, saving 1.4 billion a year..
