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Chancellor to unveil series of measures in highly anticipated Budget on Wednesday
Athena Stavrou,Kate Devlin,Nicole Wootton-CaneTuesday 25 November 2025 05:00 GMTComments
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Rachel Reeves has dropped all mention of economic growth just days before her “make-or-break” Budget announcement on Wednesday.
The chancellor came into office 18 months ago with the “number one mission” of growing the economy, but all discussion of the aim was notably absent when she addressed MPs on Monday evening.
Instead, she said the Budget will focus on three priorities: “Cutting the cost of living, cutting NHS waiting lists and cutting the cost of debt.”
It comes after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) reportedly downgraded its forecasts for economic growth until 2029, leaving Ms Reeves short of funds to fill the black hole in her spending.
On Monday it also emerged the chancellor is set to hit thousands of Britain’s most expensive properties with a new “mansion tax” levy. The new taxes would reportedly revalue some of the most valuable properties across council tax bands F, G and H and hit 100,000 of them with a new surcharge.
It is one of a series of wealth taxes Reeves is set to unveil to fill the spending black hole in her budget with other measures expected to include a profits tax on gambling companies demanded by former PM Gordon Brown, and a levy on bank profits.
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Key Points
- Rachel Reeves set to hit thousands of properties with new mansion tax
- When is the Budget?
- OBR to 'downgrade growth forecasts for every year of this parliament'
- Minister apologises for Budget speculation
- CBI warns businesses are ‘not just a resource to be taxed when the going gets tough’
- Editorial: After all the hype and confusion, Reeves’s Budget must deliver clarity, stability and direction
Recap: Nigel Farage denies allegations of racist comments during his school days
Nigel Farage has responded to allegations he made racist and antisemitic comments to peers during his time as a schoolboy at Dulwich College.
Allegations published in The Guardian claimed the Reform leader had been behind several incidents of deeply offensive behaviour throughout his teenage years.
Speaking to ITV on Monday, Mr Farage said he had never made racist comments in a “hurtful or insulting way” or with “intent”.
You can read more below...
Nigel Farage responds to schoolboy racism claims
It comes after the Reform UK leader was accused of making racist and antisemitic comments to classmates during his school daysNicole Wootton-Cane25 November 2025 05:00A look at the UK's economic growth ahead of the Budget
The OBR’s new forecasts on Wednesday are likely to include revised estimates for economic growth in the UK.
Growth in 2025 has slowed as the year has gone on.
The size of the economy grew by 0.7 per cent in January-March, by 0.3 per cent in April-June and by just 0.1 per cent in July-September, according to estimates by the ONS.
In addition, the economy is estimated to have contracted by 0.1 per cent in September, driven by a fall in motor manufacturing due partly to the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover.
The OBR’s current forecast for growth across the whole of 2025 – published back in March – is 1.0 per cent, rising to 1.9 per cent in 2026.
The UK has recorded annual growth of less than 1 per cent only five times in the past 30 years: in 2008 and 2009 (zero and -4.6 per cent respectively, during the financial crash); 2011 (0.9 per cent), 2020 (-10.0 per cent, during the pandemic) and 2023 (0.3 per cent).
Athena Stavrou25 November 2025 04:30Starmer and Trump did not discuss BBC Panorama fallout in call
Sir Keir Starmer ducked raising the legal challenge between Donald Trump and the BBC when he spoke to the US president on Sunday.
The 30-minute call between Mr Trump and the prime minister focused on Ukraine, according to the readout, with sources admitting he did not discuss the BBC.
Sir Keir had been under pressure to intervene over the row between the White House and the BBC after the broadcaster had apologised for the presentation of the US president’s 6 January speech in a Panorama programme and Newsnight report.
But sources now admit that the subject of the BBC was not raised, as Sir Keir instead tried to press the president on his controversial plans for Ukraine.
(PA Wire)Athena Stavrou25 November 2025 04:00Cabinet minister admits he does not know his council tax band - recap
The Independent’s Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:
Business secretary Peter Kyle has said he does not know his council tax band, despite reports his government is planning to hike the levy for those in higher brackets.
He told journalists at the CBI conference in London: “I live in a small one bedroom flat in in Hove, I can't even tell you what band I’m in”.
Rachel Reeves could hit more than 100,000 high-value properties with a mansion tax in her Budget on Wednesday as she seeks to raise money to fill a black hole in the nation’s finances.
The chancellor has reportedly scaled back plans for a property tax but is now expected to apply a tax to homes worth more than £2 million, in a move which could raise between £400m and £450m for the Treasury.
Some 2.4 million properties in the top three council tax bands - F, G and H - will be revalued to determine which will be subject to the surcharge, which will be worth an average of £4,500, according to The Times.
Peter Kyle on stage during the CBI annual conference (Yui Mok/PA) (PA Wire)Athena Stavrou25 November 2025 03:30Watch: Who will the new mansion tax impact?
Who will the new mansion tax impact?Athena Stavrou25 November 2025 02:30Comment: The trust factor: why Labour must deliver a Budget that people can believe in
Labour must deliver a Budget that people can believe in
If the chancellor can put a Budget with slogan-free integrity and deliverable plans for growth in front of the British people then we can finally draw a line under the missteps of the past, says Scottish Labour leader Anas SarwarNicole Wootton-Cane25 November 2025 02:00Reeves to scrap two-child benefit cap
Labour is set to announce an end to the two-child benefit cap at Wednesday’s Budget, following months of intense pressure from backbenchers, campaign groups and political opponents.
The two-child benefit cap prevents parents from claiming universal credit or tax credit for their third child. It was introduced by the Conservatives and came into place in April 2017. It only applies to children who were born after 6 April 2017.
The measure was announced by then-chancellor George Osborne alongside a raft of other changes to the benefits system. The Conservatives said the measures were designed to encourage benefit recipients “to make the same choices as those supporting themselves solely through work”.
Latest official figures show that 1.6 million children are living in families affected by the policy.
Campaigners, charities and politicians from across the spectrum have called on the government to scrap the measure, saying that 109 children across the UK are pulled into poverty by the policy every day.
(PA Archive)Athena Stavrou25 November 2025 01:00Editorial: Reeves must prove she has a rock-solid plan to free us from this ‘growth crisis’
Reeves must prove she has a rock-solid plan to free us from this ‘growth crisis’
Editorial: The chancellor’s second Budget has been overshadowed by bleak forecasts, but while the OBR’s downgrade exposes the fragility of Labour’s economic promises and the limits of government spin, she must still deliverNicole Wootton-Cane25 November 2025 00:00Sean O'Grady: Reeves’ Robin Hood budget may shore up party support, but not voters’
Reeves’s £15bn child benefit ‘giveaway’ is a gift the public won’t like
Labour’s new Budget is set to lift the two-child benefit cap – a popular move in parliament, says Sean O’Grady, but one that may unsettle voters already squeezed by the cost of living crisisAthena Stavrou24 November 2025 23:30Brexit costing UK up to £90bn in lost tax revenue a year, new analysis shows
Brexit is costing the UK up to £90bn a year in lost tax revenues, a new analysis shows just days before Rachel Reeves prepares to hike levies in her make-or-break Budget.
The average Briton is also thousands of pounds worse off, leading to calls for ministers to “fix our broken relationship with Europe”.
As Ms Reeves sets out her Budget on Wednesday, the government’s official watchdog is also expected to confirm that leaving the European Union has been even more disastrous than previously thought.
Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has this story...
Brexit costing UK up to £90bn in lost tax revenue , new analysis shows
Exclusive: Britons also up to £3,700 worse off, leading to calls for the Labour government to improve relations with the EU Nicole Wootton-Cane24 November 2025 23:00Newer1 / 4OlderMore about
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