Burnham's Autumn Budget is set to hit middle-class savers and pension holders hardest, analysts warn

From the Newshound archive · first published 25 September 2026.

Financial education specialist Antonia Medlicott warns that it is ordinary middle-class households — not the wealthy — who stand to bear the heaviest burden from Chancellor John Healey's October 28 Budget. People with modest private pensions, paid-off homes and savings are being gradually pulled into rules intended for the rich through frozen tax thresholds and inheritance tax changes. The IFS has separately cautioned that Burnham's public ownership agenda could add tens of billions to government debt.

From April 2027, unspent pension pots will be brought within the scope of inheritance tax for the first time — a change Medlicott argues will fall disproportionately on middle earners despite having been designed to target the wealthy.

Burnham's own economic adviser has urged Labour to rule out further tax rises at the Budget and scrap the triple lock, sharpening tensions ahead of the October announcement.