
If you're wondering where all the money's going to come from to pay for the Chancellor's Spending Review then you're not alone. finally delivered her long-anticipated plan to renew Britain – and while there were some big promises, it left many of you asking how it's going to be funded.
Standing at the despatch box in the , the Chancellor pitched her plan as a blueprint for “Britain’s renewal” and took a swipe at years of “destructive” Tory austerity. She announced that departmental budgets will rise by 2.3% each year in real terms, with hefty sums heading to the , defence, and housing.
In parliament, Ms Reeves batted away claims she would raise taxes and said her spending plans were paid for by decisions made at the Autumn . She repeated her pledge not to raise taxes on working people.
But a think tank says tax rises are likely in the autumn. The Resolution Foundation reported the big rise in public spending has been largely paid for by £39.7 billion in tax increases (set for 2028-29) announced in last Autumn’s Budget, along with £3.6 billion in benefit cuts (also in 2028-29) revealed in the Spring Statement – which works out to about £1,550 for every family in Britain.
"But the combination of a weaker economic outlook, an unfunded spending commitment on winter fuel payments, and just £9.9 billion of headroom against the chancellor’s fiscal rules, mean further tax rises are likely to be needed this autumn," it says.
We asked Just 908 of you felt she did, while a whopping 1,982 said she didn't.
Many of you responded to our original story, here's just a slice of what some of you had to say:
Martinsopinion posted: "I don't know about you, but I don't want to pay more council tax for less services. I wonder what other ways they will find to tax us? Maybe spending money on poorly connected urban sprawl to maybe help a few, when the country needs a new city full of six-storey buildings. The policies are so misguided."
Hfchbffch said: "What happened to the 22 billion black hole? Looks like it’s gone bigger. Where is all the cash coming from? I don’t see any country given money to the UK for all the problems it has got. It looks like the UK working people will foot another bill."
72Momma added: "Where is all the money coming from? Have they actually got rid of the ‘black hole’ or are they just remortgaging the country? To be able to spend over £102bn ... who is she borrowing from?"
Joeyd: "Margaret Thatcher's Reagonomics caused the global economic crash. She sold off Britain to foreign countries for a pittance, wrecked mining, shipbuilding and steel towns across Britain, sold off council housing and put all our money into banking. When the banks collapsed, the country collapsed with them. The Conservative Government introduced 14 years of failed austerity making the rich even richer, and the poorest even poorer. Someone has to reverse decades of neglect, we'll have to wait and see if they carry through with the infrastructure plans she's promising."
Seccmjfl01: "It might not be perfect but at least she's trying and making an effort. Things take time and she needed some stability. Good luck to her."
Wolveslegends: "The Chancellor promises so much with no money to pay for it. Come the Autumn she will gain the funds from guess where from? All of us will donate to her cause if we like it or not including the disabled and those too old to work. Welcome to New ."
Reeves is pledging an extra £29 billion a year for the NHS – a real-terms boost of around 3% annually. And on housing, she laid out a massive £39 billion package to build hundreds of thousands of affordable homes over the next decade. It’s being called the “biggest cash injection” in 50 years and is part of the drive to get 1.5 million new homes built by 2029.
Following details of the winter fuel U-turn earlier this week, Reeves confirmed plans to restore the payments to millions of pensioners. OAPs with an income of £35,000 or below in England and Wales will receive the benefit this winter. It is a major uplift from the current £11,500 cut-off point announced last summer.
In an "age of insecurity" the Chancellor said defence spending will rise to 2.6% of GDP by 2027. She said the figure includes spending on intelligence agencies. “We will make Britain a defence industrial superpower," Ms Reeves vowed.
The understands schools will also get a major boost to per pupil funding, with £4.5billion extra for the core schools budget. This includes a major
Some £15.6billion will also be handed to mayors for major transport projects across the country. This will go towards plans to improve trams, trains and buses in the North and the Midlands. Other announcements include ending the "costly" use of hotels to , £3 cap on single bus tickets, and over £14billion worth of investment will go towards building the Sizewell C nuclear power plant on the Suffolk coast.
told the Cabinet that the Spending Review: "Marks the end of the first phase of this Government, as we move to a new phase that delivers on the promise of change for working people all around the country and invests in Britain's renewal."
However, Tory Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride slammed the announcement, as he fumed: "This spending review is not worth the paper it is written on.” He goes on to claim Ms Reeves has "completely lost control" and warns of tax rises to come in the autumn."
READ MORE:
-
Sabrina Carpenter SLAMMED By Glasgow Women's Organisation Over 'Regressive' Album Cover: 'She Is Pandering To Male Gaze'
-
Who Was John Barnett? Boeing Whistleblower’s Alarming Dreamliner Claims Resurface After Air India Plane Crash
-
Not Ranveer Singh, But Allu Arjun To Step Into Mukesh Khanna's Shoes To Play Shaktimaan: Report
-
Berlin, Paris urges restraint as Israel-Iran crisis escalates
-
Dubai: Fire breaks out at high-rise building in Marina; residents evacuated