“The only way to drive economic growth is to invest, invest, invest”
Rachel Reeves delivered the first Labour Budget in 14 years on 30 October, during which she announced £40bn of tax rises. She outlined a series of new tax and spending measures, some of which had been widely trailed prior to Budget day, saying, “This government was given a mandate to restore stability to our economy and to begin a decade of national renewal, to fix the foundations and deliver change… that is our task.”
She continued, “The only way to drive economic growth is to invest, invest, invest. There are no shortcuts, and to deliver that investment we must restore economic stability.”
During her speech, the Chancellor referenced the previous government’s “unfunded measures” that she claimed has left a £22bn black hole in this year’s spending plans, before revealing the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR’s) latest economic projections. The UK economy is expected to grow slightly faster than previously expected both this year and next, before easing off from 2026 onwards. The new forecast predicts the economy will grow by 1.1% this year and 2.0% in 2025, before tempering to 1.6% by the end of the Parliament. Inflation is predicted to average 2.5% this year and 2.6% next year.
The Chancellor stressed that every Budget she delivers “will be focused on our mission to grow the economy” and outlined seven pillars which will form the government’s growth policy priorities. Key among these is restoring economic stability and increasing investment, while other areas include boosting regional growth, improving skills across the workforce, creating an industrial strategy, driving innovation and transitioning to Net Zero.
Key announcements
Some of the main pledges from the Budget included:
Cost-of-living
Personal taxation
Business measures
US Election
With polls suggesting the race for the White House is neck and neck, voters took to the polls on 5 November to cast their votes; 83 million people voted ahead of election day. Final days of campaigning saw the two candidates traverse key states. Election night centred around seven critical battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. At the time of going to press on Wednesday morning, Donald Trump declared a “magnificent victory” in a speech to his jubilant supporters. We will reflect on the full results in next week’s News in Review.
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All details are correct at time of writing (6 November 2024)