Arley Armfield—The first female Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has today announced the first budget of the new Labour government.
Taxes have been raised by £40 billion and there have been some small wins for the working classes of England, yet still not the ‘real change’ promised by Labour in their 2024 manifesto.
Income tax and National Insurance rates will remain unchanged for employees and some relief for small businesses as Employment Allowance will increase from £5,000 to £10,500.
Railcards are set to rise to £5 (4.6% increase) by March 2025, and the £2 bus cap will rise to £3 starting in January which is a kick in the teeth for many people across the country as public transport is already costly and inefficient. Air Passenger Duty will increase by 50% on private jets in better news.
Parliament all jeered as Reeves announced a ‘penny off pints’ which is the draught beer tax which has been decreased by 1.7% which will change pints in England by literally a penny, and a new vaping tax was introduced of £2.20 per 10ml of liquid starting October next year.
Reeves also pledged another annual £3 billion in aid to Ukraine ‘for as long as it takes’, she also mentioned she had pledged just £240 million to tackle homelessness in the UK.
The government has also pledged £5 billion to housing and another £1 billion to remove dangerous cladding from unsafe homes.
The minimum wage for over 21s is set to increase from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour in April, 18–20-year-olds rise from £8.60 to £10 per hour and under 18s and apprentices rise from £6.40 to £7.55.
The carers allowance eligibility has expanded to carers earning up to £10,000 a year to claim which is fantastic that carers are starting to get what they deserve.
The NHS will also see £22.6 billion added to its operational budget, the largest increase in over a decade and local governments are set to receive £600 million in social care funding.
500 state schools to be rebuilt which will cost £1.4 billion plus an additional £300 million annually for maintenance and RAAC repairs, further education has had £300 million pledged with another £1 billion for Special Education Needs students
Breakfast Club’s budget tripled to £30 million in 2025-26 and private schools will pay 20% VAT on fees from next January.
Overall, Labour has made a start on how they wish to ‘fix’ the country with some good policies regarding healthcare, social care and minimum wage which will stimulate the economy.
However, some of the policies like the ‘pint off a penny’ just felt like smug policies to distract the public from the true issues at hand and plenty of the transport policies are dismal for the working class.
Image By: Emil Kalibradov
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