Today, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivered this Labour Government’s second Budget, putting Labour values at the heart of our decisions.
This Budget was about taking fair choices to cut the cost of living, cut NHS waiting lists and cut the national debt.
To cut the cost of living, the Budget will:
- Bring down the average energy bill by around £150 from April 2026.
- Scrap the two-child limit in Universal Credit, lifting 450,000 children out of poverty.
- Boost the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage to increase the pay packets of around 2.7 million workers.
- Increase the State Pension by up to £575 a year, delivering on our commitment to the Triple Lock.
- Freeze rail fares for the first time in 30 years, saving passengers hundreds of pounds a year, and freezing prescription charges to save patients around £12 million.
Labour is determined to build an NHS fit for the future. To help cut NHS waiting lists, we’re rolling out 250 new Neighbourhood Health Centres across the country, to help build on the 5.2 million extra appointments delivered since Labour came into office.
And to cut national debt, we are ensuring that borrowing is reduced every year so that interest rates, which have been cut five times since the election, can keep falling and keep mortgage costs down for families. We are making fair choices, asking everyone to contribute but ensuring that income is taxed more fairly:
- Increasing how much property income is taxed, because landlords pay less tax on rental income than their tenants do on earnings from work.
- Reforming taxes on very expensive homes, so a £10m Westminster mansion doesn’t pay less than a terraced house in Blackpool.
- Raising duties on online gambling.