Is Anyone Actually Happy About Rachel Reeves’ Budget?

Rachel Reeves unveiled Labour’s first Budget in almost 15 years on Wednesday – but it has not exactly been met with acclaim across the board.

The chancellor warned that it was going to be a “tough” announcement, and she was not wrong.

It was the biggest tax-raising Budget in history as the government looks to rake in an extra £40bn.

The announcement sparked significant backlash, from farmers angry over the new limit on tax relief for their land inheritance, to businesses frustrated over the hike in employers’ contribution to National Insurance.

But is there anyone who is actually be happy with Reeves’ choices?

Alcohol duty rates on non-draught products will increase from February next year in line with RPI – but, rather than increasing that tax, Reeves chose to cut draught duty by 1.7%.

That means the price of a pint is going down by 1p – so you would have to drink around 500 to get just one free…

Reeves has given the NHS a £22.6bn cash injection in her Budget, which will be spread out over two years.

She said: “This is the largest real-terms growth in day-to-day NHS spending outside of Covid since 2010.”

She said this “record injection of funding” means Labour “can now begin to bring waiting lists down more quickly and move towards our target for waiting times to be no longer than 18 weeks by delivering on our manifesto commitment for 40,000 extra hospital appointments a week”.

The NHS was widely expected to fare well in this Budget.

Yet, the chief analyst at the King’s Fund think tank, Siva Anandaciva, warned: “The health spending announced today is unlikely to be enough for patients to see a real improvement in the care they receive.”

Reeves confirmed in her Budget that around 112,000 miners in Wales will receive a pension scheme payout after decades of campaigning.

She has put aside a total of £1.5bn for the miners, working out to an annual increase of around 32% in each person’s pension.

Campaigners and former miners celebrated the news, especially considering the row began in 1994 when British coal was privatised.

Workers on the minimum wage got a boost in yesterday’s announcement as Reeves increased it from £8.60 to £10 an hour for 18-20 year olds.

The national living wage was also increased beyond the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations from earlier this year, from £11.44 to £12.21 an hour – meaning a worker on that rate will benefit by up to £1,400 more a year.

The chancellor decided not to increase fuel duty by 7p per litre, and instead froze it.

She said: “I have today decided to freeze fuel duty next year and I will maintain the existing 5p cut for another year, too. There will be no higher taxes at the petrol pumps next year.”

The news was welcomed by drivers, especially amid previous concerns that it could rise by up to 8p per litre.

The chancellor has put aside billions for compensation in her Budget, with £11.8bn for infected blood scandal victims after around 30,000 NHS patients were given blood products contaminated with HIV or hepatitis C between the 1970s and early 1990s.

This funding was welcomed by one of the leading infected blood campaigns, Jason Evans, who said the amount “seems high” because the “scale of suffering, loss and death due to the scandal is high”.

Reeves also said £1.8bn will go towards those affected by the Post Office Horizon scandal, after thousands of subpostmasters were accused of fraud due to faulty accounting software.

However, former subpostmaster Dave Farry, who also lost his father to HIV after he had a contaminated blood transfusion, suggested there was not enough funding put aside for either.

“Saying and doing are two different things so all the Post Office payments were supposed to be made by March next year,” he told the Northern Echo.

“I would like the government to be making a commitment on that. The longer it goes on, the more stress, aggravation, and heartache it is causing.

“They are just dangling carrots but unless there is a timescale the money is meaningless.

“It has gone on far too long. Full and fair payments should be made available for all affected people and should be paid out.”

The chancellor’s earlier decision to means test winter fuel payments for pensioners means 10 million will miss out on payments of up to £300 – but come next year, they will also see their state pension rise thanks to the triple lock, which ensures the payment increases each year by at least 2.5%.

It means pensions will receive a boost of 4.1% to their annual pension income over the next year from April, going up by £472 a year compared to now.

However, the decision to increase the bus fare cap from £2 to £3, and to restrict to winter fuel allowances means pensioners largely still feel hard done by the Budget.

At the moment, carers can receive up to £81.90 per week if they have additional caring responsibility.

But Reeves’ Budget means the amount carers can earn and still receive the allowance will rise to the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage, per week.

They can therefore they can now earn over £10,000 a year and still receive the allowance.