Budget 2024 live: Reeves to pledge more ‘pounds in people’s pockets’ as minimum wage to rise to £12.21

Rachel Reeves’ first budget is about “protecting the payslips of working people”, the prime minister told a political Cabinet meeting.

It comes amid a growing row over the definition of “working people”, with the party having promised not to raise national insurance, income tax or VAT on those individuals.

Addressing the meeting on Tuesday, Sir Keir said “politics is about choices”, adding that Wednesday’s Budget will show the party is “choosing to fix the NHS, rebuild Britain and protect the payslips of working people”.

The prime minister also said that the “question for the Budget is not whether we must act, it is how we act and what choices we make in the national interest”, a Labour Party spokesperson said.

The Government will back the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), not trash it, the Prime Minister’s spokesman has said after Jeremy Hunt complained about the body publishing a review of the last administration’s spending plans on the same day as the Budget.

The former chancellor complained that the body publishing a review into the “black hole” Labour says it inherited on the same day as the Budget is not impartial.

Asked if the Government was using the OBR as a political tool, Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said: “No, the Prime Minister is clear that this Government is going to back the independent OBR, not trash it.

“The answer is not to blame the referee, face up to the challenges we faced and be honest about the trade-offs and choices the Government face, not pretend they don’t exist.

“That’s why the Government is strengthening the OBR through the Budget Responsibility Act to ensure that it’s never sidelined again, like we saw during the mini budget.

“The Government has been up front about the black hole of the nation’s finances and it fully backs the OBR and the independent scrutiny it provides.”

The public wants to hear a “positive, proactive vision” for growing the economy and restoring public services when the Chancellor delivers her Budget on Wednesday, a poll has found.

Polling by Ipsos on the eve of the Budget found 84 per cent of people thought it was important to hear about Labour’s plans for improving public services during Rachel Reeves’s speech while 80 per cent wanted to hear about plans to grow the economy.

Only 69 per cent said they wanted to hear about the financial “black hole” in current spending plans while less than half the public said it was important for Ms Reeves to talk about the role of the previous government in bringing about the current situation.

So far, more people said they had heard negative stories about the problems facing public services and the economy than about Labour’s plans for the future.

Trinh Tu, managing director of Ipsos UK public affairs, said the public was “sending a clear message” to the Government – “we know the problems, now give us solutions”.

She said: “Awareness of the challenges is high, but people are much less clear on Labour’s plans to address them.

As Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer assures the public that “working people” have nothing to fear from Wednesday’s Budget, confusion has arisen over who exactly qualifies as a “working person.”

As Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver Labour’s first Budget in 14 years, we want to hear your views. How should “working people” be defined? Should high earners or those with investments be included? And how should this affect decisions in the upcoming Budget?

Share your thoughts here — we’ll highlight the most insightful comments as they come in.

Conservative MPs have gathered in Westminster to call on the Government to “think again” about means-testing the winter fuel payment.

Later on Tuesday, they will hand in a petition to the Treasury ahead of Rachel Reeves’ first Budget on Wednesday.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride told the PA news agency that the petition has collected “over a quarter of a million signatures”.

Mr Stride said that they are “calling upon the Government to think again about means-testing the winter fuel payment”.

He said “many” pensioners are going to “really, really struggle”, adding: “This Government chose to give well above inflationary pay rises to trade union paymasters when it came to wage settlements and chose to take this money away from some of the most vulnerable people in the country. We don’t believe that’s right.”

Wes Streeting has said he is a working person but that it is “people on low and middle incomes” who the Chancellor has in her mind’s eye when it comes to the Budget.

“I am a working person. Last time I checked I was working very hard,” the Health Secretary told Sky News.

“What I will say is that in our manifesto we were very clear about the steps we were going to take to protect working people, which was ruling out increases in income tax, national insurance and VAT, and despite all the pressures that we are under and the scale of the black hole in the public finances, we will honour every single one of those commitments.

“Just on this ‘working person point’, I think what we mean is when we’re making decisions, especially in the context of a Budget, who do we have in our mind’s eye?”

He told Kay Burley: “With the greatest respect to you and I, and the jobs that we do and the salaries we’re on, and I know you work hard doing your job, I don’t think the Chancellor’s worried about whether you or I are going to get by. She is worried about people on low and middle incomes.”

Private schools have the means to mitigate against the risk of children with special educational needs being priced out by tax rises, the Health Secretary has said.

In response to concerns about how raising tax on private schools will affect their provision to pupils with special educational needs, Wes Streeting told LBC: “Children with statements of special educational needs and disabilities will be exempt.”

Pushed on how this will work for children who do not have that statement, Mr Streeting said independent schools have the means to deal with those situations.

“Firstly, I’d say the statement is available to children and young people and their parents in that situation.

“I’d also say to independent schools, they have the means. They have hiked up their fees with inflation-busting increases for well over a decade and I’m sure they can take steps to mitigate against children being forced to drop out.”

The country is just days away from hearing Labour’s first Budget since coming into power, as speculation mounts around what measures could be making the cut.

Tax rises have been confirmed by Labour, with Keir Starmer telling reporters he would defend them “all day long.” Both the PM and chancellor Rachel Reeves have reiterated the party’s message that “tough decisions” are needed for economic growth.

Disclosing parts of the Budget ahead of time is necessary to avoid shocking the markets, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said.

Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle had complained that it is “unacceptable to go around the world telling everybody” about “major” new policy announcements rather than giving the information first to MPs.

“Look, I can firstly confirm for the benefit of Mr Speaker, in case he’s listening, certainly, what I’m announcing today is the delivery of Labour’s manifesto, so we are honouring our commitments,” Mr Streeting told Times Radio.

“So, you know, I hope I don’t find myself on the wrong side of the Speaker and, look, there’s a serious point here, which is it was important for the Chancellor when she was in Washington last week to explain the context in which she’s making some big reforms to our economy and the way that she handles investment in our national infrastructure.

“That was important to make sure that this Budget lands in the right context with the financial markets.

“We saw what happened with Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng when they ignored the Office for Budget Responsibility and sidelined them, when they took the markets by surprise, they ended up tanking the economy, and we are still paying the price for it.

“But we do take the speaker seriously. We take Parliament seriously. We are members of Parliament first and foremost, and we’ve all heard very, very clearly and plainly what Mr Speaker said yesterday, and we will certainly be taking that into account in terms of our conduct in the coming days, weeks and months.”