Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce immediate steps to cut costs as she is expected to reveal a £20 billion black hole in the government’s accounts. She will lay out the spending inheritance left by the previous government – and announce the date of her first autumn Budget – on Monday afternoon as she pledges to “restore economic stability”. She will say that a Treasury spending audit she commissioned shows that the previous government overspent this year’s budgets by billions of pounds after making a series of unfunded promises.
UK politics live: Reeves to unveil plan to cut costs as Badenoch announces Tory leadership bid
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has vowed to cut costs immediately (PA Wire)
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce immediate steps to cut costs as she is expected to reveal the government faces a £20 billion black hole in its accounts.
She will lay out the spending inheritance left by the previous government – and announce the date of her first autumn Budget – on Monday afternoon as she pledges to “restore economic stability”.
She will say that a Treasury spending audit she commissioned shows that the previous government overspent this year’s budgets by billions of pounds after making a series of unfunded promises.
It comes as Kemi Badenoch officially announced she is running to become the next leader of the Conservative Party.
The shadow housing secretary said it was “time to renew” the party that suffered a resounding defeat at the general election earlier this month.
She became the sixth candidate to announce their intention to run. James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, Mel Stride and Robert Jenrick all announced their campaigns last week, while Priti Patel made her case for the leadership of the party over the weekend.
Show latest update 1722234434
What is Rachel Reeves announcing in the funding review?
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce immediate steps to cut costs today as she is expected to unveil a black hole in the accounts of around £20 billion.
She will lay out the spending inheritance left by the previous government and announce the date of her first autumn Budget this afternoon as she pledges to “restore economic stability”.
In her speech, she will say that a Treasury spending audit she commissioned shows that the previous government overspent this year’s budgets by billions of pounds after making a series of unfunded promises.
The funding review will also include new measures to reform the system:
The Labour government will commit to one major fiscal event per year.The chancellor will establish a new Office of Value for Money.Ms Reeves will unveil fiscal reforms in a bid to make government departments more efficient.(EPA)
Salma Ouaguira29 July 2024 07:27
1722234002
IFS: Public spending blackhole equivalent to Tories’ pre-election national insurance cuts
The scale of the blackhole in public spending which the government has warned of is equivalent to the Tories’ pre-election national insurance cuts, a think tank has said.
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, told BBC Breakfast: “It is very striking that if this problem is about £20 billion big that is exactly the scale of the national insurance cuts implemented by Jeremy Hunt just before the election.
“Now, if those cuts were implemented in the knowledge that there was this kind of hole that is not good policy to put it mildly.”
Paul Johnson, director of the IFS (James Manning/PA) (PA Archive)
Salma Ouaguira29 July 2024 07:20
1722233642
Exclusive: Louise Haigh bids to prove Labour’s socialist values with rail nationalisation launch
Labour is fast-tracking plans to prove its socialist credentials by passing laws that will see Britain’s railways renationalised before the next general election.
The plans to bring “broken” private rail ownership back into the public sector would mean a programme of nationalisation on a scale not seen since before John Major aggressively privatised the railways in the 1990s.
Legislation going before MPs on Monday will see rail lines brought back into public control when contracts with operators come to an end.
New transport secretary Louise Haigh has dubbed herself “the passenger-in-chief” as she leads the overhaul but rail companies have said the project is political rather than practical, and claim it will increase costs over time. Shadow transport secretary Helen Whately added that “passengers will pay the price”.
The Independent’s politics team has the full story:
Salma Ouaguira29 July 2024 07:14
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Tories claim Labour government ‘paving the way for tax rises’ ahead of Reeves’ speech
The government is trying to set a narrative to pave the way for tax rises, Helen Whately said.
The shadow transport secretary said chancellor Rachel Reeves “would have known about the state of the public finances” while serving in opposition because of the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Ms Whately added: “Actually while Labour is going out there and trying to tell everybody that it is all so difficult for them, this is just them setting a narrative for tax rises that they want to bring in later on.
“But actually they took over an economy that had the fastest growth in the G7, that had the deficit halved compared to when we took over in 2010, that had historic low unemployment and that had inflation back down at 2%.
“So, really good fundamentals for them to build on in government.”
Salma Ouaguira29 July 2024 07:06
1722232920
Reeves set to announce steps to cut government costs
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce immediate steps to cut costs as she is expected to reveal a £20 billion black hole in the government’s accounts.
She will lay out the spending inheritance left by the previous government – and announce the date of her first autumn Budget – on Monday afternoon as she pledges to “restore economic stability”.
She will say that a Treasury spending audit she commissioned shows that the previous government overspent this year’s budgets by billions of pounds after making a series of unfunded promises.
Tom Barnes29 July 2024 07:02
1722231990
Good morning
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live politics coverage for Monday, July 29.
In case you missed it late yesterday evening, Kemi Badenoch has become the latest Conservative Party MP to enter the leadership race to replace Rishi Sunak.
The shadow housing secretary pledged to tell voters the truth as she launched her bid to become leader.
It comes as former home secretary Suella Braverman announced she had pulled out of the race because the “traumatised” party was refusing to acknowledge the truth about why they lost the general election.
Tom Barnes29 July 2024 06:46
Read the full story on www.independent.co.uk
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/rachel-reeves-budget-kemi-badenoch-tory-leadership-b2587377.html