UK's finance minister Healey walks fiscal tightrope before first budget
Healey said fiscal discipline will guide the budget as higher borrowing costs and a £5 billion defence shortfall narrow his room for tax and spending choices.
- British Finance Minister John Healey will present his first budget on October 28, facing pressure to raise billions in taxes to fund increased social care and defense spending under Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
- Healey plans to devolve more spending powers to city regions to spur economic growth and has committed to maintaining fiscal discipline amid global economic uncertainty.
- Potential tax measures under consideration include increasing capital gains tax rates and reforms to property taxes to address funding gaps.
- Healey emphasizes maintaining a robust fiscal buffer and aims to balance day-to-day spending and tax revenue by 2029/30 while managing inflation and borrowing costs.
67 Articles
67 Articles
Fiscal discipline cannot be abandoned but Chancellor needs to pull a rabbit out of the hat at his first Budget
Chancellor John Healey is right to pledge fiscal discipline ahead of his first Budget next month. The idea that markets can be ignored and that Britain can just spend its way out of trouble only works in the realm of student politics.
To reassure the markets, John Healey committed to controlling public spending but refused to exclude further tax increases at the time of the budget to be presented at the end of October.
John Healey’s speech: continuity is no crime
John Healey’s speech: continuity is no crime will.driscoll Mon, 07/09/2026 - 16:58 The summer’s Reeves to Healey switch was more continuity than change. 5 Comment Giles Wilkes Institute for Government Yes John Healey delivers his speech in Coventry on 7 September. Public finances Budget Labour Conservative No The past two decades have seen enough chancellor transitions to support a categorisation into two sorts: radical change and gentle evolu…
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