Healey hands out £100 energy payments but hits savers, landlords and banks with a tax raid in his first Budget
John Healey's Budget scraps standing charges on gas bills and extends the VAT holiday on electricity to July, though the gas change will not take effect before 2027.John Healey's Budget hands HMRC sweeping new powers to deduct overdue tax directly from bank accounts without taxpayer agreement.
Chancellor John Healey delivered his first Budget on Wednesday, promising 20 million households in council tax bands A to D a £100 energy payment this winter, paid directly into bank accounts. He scrapped standing charges on household gas bills for 23 million homes, raised the minimum wage by 3.9%, and funded the package partly through tax rises on banks and gambling firms. But the OBR slashed its growth forecast, and welfare spending will run £5 billion a year above expectations after Healey refused to cut benefits.
Kemi Badenoch warned 'Britain is about to collapse under the weight of welfare' after Healey set aside £5.5 billion to uprate benefits by 3.5%.
Landlords face fresh levies that the rental sector called 'the final nail in the coffin', with warnings that rents will soar as a result.
Healey pledged to hit 3% of GDP on defence by 2030 but offered no plan for how to fund it, prompting Badenoch to demand his resignation.
