Budget day has arrived and its policies, predictions and preparations are on the front pages of the newspapers. The Sun says Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce “new taxes on fun” and lists “work, pensions, homes, taxis, milkshakes and hotel stays” as areas that will be affected, with the “cash redirected to the NHS and benefits”. He adds that motorists will be relieved by a possible extension of the “fuel tax freeze”.
Reeves faces a “moment of truth”, writes the i Paper, as she files a tax return while being “caught between the rise of reform on the right and the demands of Labor MPs on the left”. The newspaper hopes the chancellor will lift the limit on two-child benefits and confirm an increase in minimum wages above inflation.
The Financial Times predicts that the Chancellor will later present a “Tax Rise Budget” in the House of Commons. His second budget will “fill a fiscal hole of around £30bn with a series of big tax rises alongside spending cuts”, according to the newspaper. The freezing of income tax thresholds until 2030 and the increase in minimum wages will feature in the budget, the newspaper writes.
“After weeks of leaks, Britain faces a chilling winter budget,” says Metro. Increasing taxes could increase the costs of “alcoholic beverages, sugar, nights out and even lattes,” the document says. The Chancellor’s plea to Labor MPs to “support my attempt to balance the books” is also front and center, urging colleagues to treat the Budget as “a package, not a mix”.
The Daily Star reports that the Chancellor is “extending the sugar tax to cover milkshakes and more fizzy drinks”. The newspaper’s opinion is that “the chancellor is squeezing us for everything we are worth” and adds, for good measure, that he will not offer voters a “sweetener.”
A “chorus of business leaders and economists” warns the Chancellor that “an inflation-busting rise in the minimum wage threatens to put more young people out of work”. They warn that an 8.5% increase in the minimum wage for people between 18 and 20 years old will cause a “spiral” in costs for employers, the newspaper writes.
Reeves promises to “tackle Britain’s cost-of-living crisis and achieve fiscal stability,” says The Guardian. He writes that the budget advance was “hit by a series of damaging leaks and speculation,” and describes what is at stake as a “defining moment for the fate of [Prime Minister Sir] Keir Starmer’s embattled government.
Expected minimum wage rises headline the Daily Mirror’s front page on budget day. It says the increase, which will peak at 8.5% for 18- to 20-year-olds, will “put more money in the pockets of millions of low-wage workers.”
“The mixed bag budget could cost families £1,600,” says the Times, as the chancellor prepares to deliver “more than a dozen tax rises.” A tribute to Joan Templeman, who was married to Virgin group boss Sir Richard Branson, also appears on the cover, after she died aged 80.
Meanwhile, the Daily Express highlights the government’s “plan for judges to hear only cases whose sentences are up to five years.” Critics say that “abolishing jury trials will ‘destroy’ the justice system, fail victims and increase the chances of wrongful convictions,” the newspaper writes. It says warnings from legal experts have reached the ears of Justice Secretary David Lammy, who is considering the proposal as part of efforts to “reduce the backlog at the Crown Court”.
The Daily Telegraph also features Lammy’s proposal to limit juries to “cases of murder, rape, manslaughter and other serious crimes over five years old”. The paper cites the deputy prime minister’s earlier argument that jury trials are “fundamental to democracy.”
Finally, the Independent presents the latest news on efforts to negotiate a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “‘ready to move forward’ with the European plan,” the newspaper writes, calling it a “significant diplomatic shift.”
As expected, Wednesday’s newspapers focus mainly on the Budget. The “i” calls it a “moment of truth” for Rachel Reeves. The Guardian says it will be “decisive” for Labour. The Daily Mail writes that the chancellor has been warned that “increasing the minimum wage to end inflation threatens to put more young people out of work.” “Help is at hand,” says the Daily Mirror. Its editorial says the increase “won’t solve everything,” but it does show “what happens when a government values workers instead of exploiting them.”
The Daily Telegraph says the chancellor will introduce what the Conservatives have called a “dirty dozen” tax rises. The paper says it will use its speech to argue that the expected increases are “essential if the NHS and other vital public services are to be protected”. The Financial Times says it hopes the package will reassure markets that it has “public finances under control”.
Some newspapers use their editorials to present the Budget as bad for savers, pensioners and workers, and good for those receiving benefits. The Sun says that “in the midst of this endless plundering of ordinary people’s pockets”, the chancellor “has found another £15bn to fund more welfare payments for the unemployed”. The Mail says: “The Labor Party has officially become the party of the benefits class.” The Times hopes for “a Labor budget for Labor MPs”.
The Economist magazine says predictions point to a budget that will “plug the fiscal gap” with a patchwork of small tax increases and “keep Labor MPs happy” with spending promises. But he warns that while such a package might be enough to “steady the ship”, it is likely to lead the government “straight into even rougher seas”.
The Daily Express uses its coverage to warn against taxing pensioners. It says a further 500,000 will have to pay if the chancellor extends the freeze on income tax thresholds for another two years. The Daily Star claims the Chancellor will “extend sugar tax to cover milkshakes”. “Reeves shakes up” is the headline. Not to waste a pun, the newspaper adds that she is “on shaky ground.”
