Wall-to-wall coverage of the Budget dominates the daily newspapers, with the tax and spending measures announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Commons highlighted. “Higher Welfare, Higher Taxes” The Times believes Reeves “would raise taxes to the highest level in history”. “By 2030 one in four taxpayers, equivalent to 10.6 million people, will be higher or additional rate taxpayers,” the paper states. This includes a forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which says “the increase will hit living standards and could ‘disrupt economic activity'”.
“The budget goes as it is billed,” Metro says. “You’re paying!”, wrote the Chancellor, “This will leave working people paying £26bn more in tax – a year after vowing no increase”. The newspaper recalls “a complaint made by the Office for Budget Responsibility which had posted its decision on (the Chancellor’s) plan 40 minutes early”. According to the report, it caused “a brief volatility in the stock market”, with the Conservatives demanding a “criminal investigation”.
The Financial Times focuses on reaction to the budget, citing official forecasts and economists’ views, while the headline highlights it as “Tax breaks record”. “The OBR said the weak outlook and rising tax burden will weigh on household finances,” the paper said. Meanwhile, it writes that “bond markets welcome the decision to increase fiscal headroom”.
“Spend now, pay later” is the essence of the iPaper, as the Chancellor plans to “boost profits and tackle the UK black hole”. The newspaper quoted Reeves as saying that “ordinary people” would “have to pay a little more” as “1.8 million workers have been dragged into a higher income tax bracket”.
“Millions more people to pay higher income tax” is the Independent’s headline and main finding. “43 tax rises have been delivered to raise a record extra £26bn”, the Chancellor confirmed. It said Reeves “killed” the two-child benefit cap, and added £9 billion to welfare spending.
The Daily Mail describes Reeves’s measures as a “spiteful raid on those who are struggling”, what it calls a “budget mess” and says the Chancellor’s message is “if you work hard and save judiciously, I’m coming for you”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s assessment is, according to the Daily Express: “a budget for profit”. He believes the new measures will hit “hard-working Britons” hardest as the government looks to “boost welfare spending by £406bn by 2030-31” thanks to measures such as scrapping the two-child benefit limit.
The Sun headlined it as a “profit street” budget, saying: “Workers and savers robbed to finance rising welfare bill”. The Tories have now accused the Chancellor of breaking “Labour’s manifesto promises”, it writes, and say Rachel Reeves has “refused to rule out further punitive increases”.
Photoshop, or another image-alteration program, helped the Daily Star portray Reeves on its cover as the Christmas Grinch, an angry green-skinned fictional character who “stole Christmas” in his eponymous film. The Star has nicknamed the Chancellor “Rachel the Thieves” and accused her of presenting a Budget that is “all tax, tax, tax and spend, spend, spend”.
A “Labour-hearted budget” The Daily Mirror says it was “crafted with ordinary people in mind”. The newspaper described the two-child benefit limit as “cruel” and said the policy had “trapped 450,000 children in poverty”. It also notes that “Reeves increased gambling taxes and imposed a levy on homeowners with properties worth £2 million”.
The Daily Telegraph says Reeves’ fiscal details include “broken promises”, including a “new tax on homes worth more than £2m” and other measures that will hit “pensions and savings”. According to the newspaper, Reeves had given “assurances” that “there will be no further increases before the next election” after a “40 billion pound tax increase” in the last budget.
The Guardian quoted the Chancellor as saying, “I’m asking everyone to contribute” and later explained that it was “to repair the public finances”. Reeves says he “avoided reckless borrowing and dangerous cuts”, while the paper says the tax share as a proportion of GDP will reach an “all-time high of 38%” by 2030.
