Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
The health secretary has declined to rule out extending the freeze on income tax thresholds as speculation about possible tax increases in the Budget continued to mount.
Wes Streeting said he would not guess measures that the Chancellor might introduce in the Budget, but told broadcasters on Sunday morning that he had already agreed health spending with Rachel Reeves.
Mr Streeting told Sky News: What we’re not going to do is duck the difficult decisions, have Government by gimmick, short-term sticking plasters, because that is exactly how we ended up in this situation.”
He went on to say: “There are a whole load of choices that we will have to make that we would have preferred not to. But if we don’t make the choices now, we will end up paying a much heavier price for failure.
“We’re not prepared to do that. We’re going to make the right long term decisions.”
We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates ahead of the big event on 30 October here, on The Independent’s liveblog.
Lib Dems will oppose national insurance increases
Liberal Democrats deputy leader Daisy Cooper said the party will oppose the increase of national insurance contributions for employers, if the rumoured policy is in the Government’s Budget later this month.
The party’s Treasury spokeswoman said she was worried about the impact on care providers, which could send some from a state of “crisis to collapse”.
Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Ms Cooper said: “I think we are deeply uncomfortable about that proposal.
“One of our concerns in particular is that there are many very small care homes and small care providers around the country, and they… are on the cliff edge as it stands.
“If the Government were to put up employer contributions, particularly for these small businesses, for these small care homes, I think we might see many of them go from a state of crisis to a state of collapse with no choice but to close their doors.”
She went on to say: “The rumour as it stands is that the Government intend to raise the national insurance contributions on all companies, irrespective of whether they’re small or large… I think we probably end up having to vote no against that.”
UK faces ‘make or break moment’ in Budget, says Swinney
Scotland’s First Minister will use a speech on Monday to urge the Chancellor to increase spending, as he said the Budget presents a “make or break moment” for the UK.
First Minister John Swinney is expected to make his most outspoken intervention on the budget and push the Chancellor to invest in public services.
Speaking at an event in Edinburgh on Monday in front of academics, think tanks and representatives of the private, public and voluntary sector, the First Minister is expected to describe the past seven years – which has seen Brexit, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the subsequent energy price and inflation hikes – as a “long, dark economic winter”.
He will add: “What is needed now is a collective commitment to public investment for economic renewal, investment that will allow us to move into an economic spring, with new growth, new opportunities and new hope.”
Budget 2024: Inheritance tax set to rise – here’s what it means for you
Streeting says he cannot fix 14 years of NHS issues with one budget
Wes Streeting said he had reached a deal on NHS funding with the Chancellor, but could not fix the problems of the last 14 years in one Budget.
Asked about potential funding increases at the Budget, the Health Secretary told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “I’m not going to get into specific figures.
“I’ve settled with the Chancellor, but we are not going to fix 14 years in one Budget.”
He also stressed the need for reform as well as investment in the NHS, saying he was “conscious” that money spent on health was money that could not be spent in other areas.
He added: “There isn’t a single part of Government and the public sector where there aren’t real crises.”
Streeting refuses to rule out income tax threshold freeze
Wes Streeting has refused to rule out that the Government will freeze income tax thresholds in the upcoming Budget.
Mr Streeting had previously voted against the measure in opposition while Rishi Sunak was prime minister.
Speaking on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Mr Streeting said: “I’m not going to speculate on what the Chancellor might do in the Budget.
“If you’re asking me whether I would vote against anything in the Chancellor’s Budget? The answer is no, of course I’m not going to do that.”
He went on to say: “This country is paying a heavy price for Conservative failure, and we’re going to have to make some big and difficult choices in this Budget to make sure we fix the foundations of the economy and we don’t end up back here.”
He later added: “What we’re not going to do is duck the difficult decisions, have Government by gimmick, short-term sticking plasters, because that is exactly how we ended up in this situation.”
Full report: Starmer denies election pledges will be broken as Reeves plans stealth taxes
Reeves considers raising tax on vaping in Budget
Rachel Reeves is considering raising the tax on vaping products in the upcoming Budget as figures lay bare how many children access them in the UK, The Guardian reports.
The tax on vaping products was originally announced by the Conservatives in March, to come in to force in 2026. It is now understood that Ms Reeves could look to increase this.
Under current plans, the new rates from April 2026 will range from £1-3 per 10ml of liquid, depending on nicotine level.
When is the 2024 Budget and what might be in it?
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver Labour’s first Budget on Wednesday 30 October.
Each year, the chancellor of the exchequer – who is in charge of the government’s finances – makes a Budget statement to MPs. .
The speech outlines the government’s plans for spending and taxes.
The Budget speech usually starts around 12:30pm and lasts about an hour. The Independent will be bringing you all the latest updates on the big day.
Ms Reeves may be considering pushing the freeze beyond its current expiry date of 2028 in a move that could raise £7 billion, according to the Financial Times.
Other measures reported to be under consideration include increasing employers’ national insurance contributions, raising fuel duty for the first time since 2010, changes to rules on inheritance tax and stamp duty, and a levy on e-cigarettes, according to reports across the media.
The Treasury has so far declined to comment on Budget speculation.
Government will keep manifesto pledges, says Starmer
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said that the government will keep to manifesto pledges ahead of the Budget.
Asked about whether reported tax changes under consideration would keep to their promise of not increasing taxes for working people, Sir Keir told a press conference in Berlin: “We are going to keep our manifesto pledges.”
He added: “I’m not going to pre-empt the individual measures that will be outlined by the Chancellor in due course.
“This is going to be a Budget that will fix the foundations and rebuild our country.”
When asked further about potential tax rises, the Prime Minister said that “you’ll just have to wait until the Chancellor lays that out in full, but the structure if you like, the framework, is going to be to fix the foundations and to rebuild our country.”
