John Healey delivers his first UK Budget as chancellor on Wednesday 28 October, setting out Labour’s tax and spending plans to MPs in the Commons, BBC News reported.
The speech usually starts at about 12.30pm UK time, after Prime Minister’s Questions, according to the BBC. That is about 11.30pm AEDT on Wednesday 28 October.
The Treasury will publish the measures, and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will publish its assessment and forecast alongside them, the BBC reported.
The Balancing Act
Healey and Prime Minister Andy Burnham are trying to offer more help to households and meet defence commitments, the BBC reported. They are also trying to keep to the manifesto and the fiscal rules.
Before the 2024 election, Labour promised not to raise income tax, National Insurance or VAT, according to the BBC. Healey has refused to rule out tax rises. He has acknowledged that government borrowing costs are at “historic highs”.
The fiscal rules were set by Rachel Reeves and kept by the new leadership. There should be no borrowing for day-to-day spending by the end of the parliament, and debt should be falling as a share of national income by then, the BBC reported.
“The challenge now is to make sure that we balance the books, we manage and control public spending, and the prime minister and I are in lockstep in our determination to meet the fiscal rules with a buffer,” Healey told the BBC’s Faisal Islam.
Healey also said, according to BBC News: “Running through the Budget I deliver must be fiscal discipline and the maintenance of control on the public finances, because otherwise we won’t get on top of the debt costs.”
The Headroom
In March the OBR put the headroom against the first rule at £23.6bn, the BBC reported. KPMG thinks it may have fallen to £12bn. The IFS puts it at about £20bn.
Stories have suggested headroom in the region of £15bn, according to The Guardian.
What Has Been Trailed
A higher tax on banks has been trailed, along with energy support for the most vulnerable, according to The Guardian.
Billions more for defence have also been trailed, through the British Business Bank and the National Wealth Fund. So has a £1bn online VAT crackdown. It would make platforms such as Amazon, eBay and Temu collect what smaller sellers owe, the paper reported.
Two measures have already been announced by press release: a £1.5bn borrowing facility for councils and £1bn for social housing, The Guardian reported. The BBC says Healey is expected to add £1bn to the £39bn planned for social and affordable housing in England.
First-home buyers are also in the frame. Under the Your First Home scheme, a buyer would be able to purchase a new-build with a 2.5% deposit and a loan worth 20% of its value. The BBC understands the income threshold will be set at £110,000 outside London and £140,000 in the capital.
Low-income pensioners are expected to be shielded from income tax through a new personal allowance, according to the BBC.
Ruled Out, and Unclear
Changes to capital gains tax have been ruled out, the BBC reported. Reports suggest Healey has also ruled out extending the mansion tax to homes worth more than £1.5m, the BBC said.
Fuel duty is unclear. In late September, Healey would not say whether the freeze would be extended again, according to the BBC.
Codenames and Compartments
Healey’s aides have used “compartments” and codenames to guard the Budget, the BBC’s Faisal Islam reported. Ministers sign a digital promise not to brief the media.
A former Tory strategist, quoted by The Guardian, saw a risk in that. “If everything is kept tight, then you end up surprising people. And that’s called a Liz Truss situation,” the strategist said.
The Economy
The economy grew 0.6% in the first quarter and 0.5% in the second, BBC News reported. The UK is the fastest-growing G7 economy so far in 2026.
Inflation rose to 3.5% in September, more than forecast, according to the BBC’s Faisal Islam. The Bank of England held rates at 3.75% in September and said they were likely to rise if high energy prices persist, the BBC reported.
A typical household energy bill is forecast to rise by £276 a year in January 2027, according to the BBC.
The Aid Target
UK aid spending in 2027 is likely to be £410m less than anticipated, at 0.29% of national income against the reduced 0.3% target, according to calculations by the Center for Global Development reported by The Guardian.
Fleur Anderson MP said, according to The Guardian: “Falling short isn’t an abstract accounting issue. It means communities not having clean water, girls pulled out of school, vaccines that don’t get delivered, peace programmes in war zones cut.”
More world news is in prw’s International archive.
When Healey Sits Down
When Healey sits down, Kemi Badenoch responds for the Opposition. MPs then debate the measures for four days before voting, the BBC reported.
The OBR’s forecast, with the borrowing tables, is published as he sits down, at around 1pm UK time, according to the BBC’s Faisal Islam.
Sources: BBC News, “What is the Budget and what could be in it?”, 26 October 2026 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6x2zrjl7kjno); BBC News, “Healey’s Budget needs to sustain the stronger economy through gathering clouds”, 26 October 2026 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ck87z4ng2l03o); The Guardian, “Has Healey’s military-style budget secrecy really played out so differently to past budgets?”, 25 October 2026 (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/oct/25/john-healey-chancellor-budget-secrecy); The Guardian, “UK poised to miss reduced aid spending target of 0.3% of national income”, 26 October 2026 (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/oct/26/uk-international-aid-target-spending-shortfall-budget-research)
Photo: Tilman2007, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
HM Treasury on Whitehall, London, photographed in June 2025.
