The Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the Government has inherited a projected overspend of £22 billion from the previous Tory administration
The projected overspend by the previous Tory government on the asylum system, including the “failed” Rwanda plan, was more than £6.4 billion for this year alone, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said in a statement in the House of Commons
Reeves has confirmed that the government will meet recommended public sector pay rises costing £9billion and has asked government departments to help fund pay rises through greater efficiencies in their back room
She added that the increase in public sector pay awards were not budgeted for by the previous administration
The level of overspending the Chancellor says is unsustainable and said that she will end the winter fuel payment for those not in receipt of pension credit or other benefits
‘This is not a decision I wanted to make, nor is it the one I expected to make. These are the necessary and urgent decisions I must make’
During her speech Reeves accused the Conservatives of having “covered up” the true state of the public finances from the country and said Labour will today be publishing a detailed audit of the “real spending situation”
As expected Reeves announced the cancellation of a number of national projects including the proposed road tunnel under Stonehenge and the lower Thames crossing
Announcing the budget date of Oct 30, the Chancellor told the Commons: “I have to tell the House that the budget will involve taking difficult decisions to meet our fiscal rules across spending, welfare and tax.”
She added: “Mr. Speaker, it will be a budget to fix the foundations of our economy, and it will be a budget built on the principles that this new government was elected on.
Labour will appoint a Covid corruption commissioner, establish a new office of value for money, and that from the autumn spending reviews will take place every two years with a three-year planning horizon
The Shadow chancellor Jeremy Hunt accused Reeves of a ‘shameless attempt’ to prepare the ground for tax rises.
He also said she had been aware of the state of the public finances before entering government.
