Badenoch brands Healey's first Budget 'not bold enough' as the OBR warns of a 'pretty grim picture' for household incomes
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.
Budget documents buried in the small print of Labour's spending plans show £150m in capital funding earmarked for 2027-28 to construct new large-scale asylum accommodation, replacing controversial asylum hotels with purpose-built mega-centres on former MoD land. The plan has already drawn fierce resistance from local communities, with villages including Piddington in Oxfordshire and Barnham holding symbolic votes to secede from the UK in protest. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp attacked the expenditure, saying Labour has 'no intention whatsoever of stopping illegal immigrants or deporting them.'
The Wethersfield site in Essex, which cost £49m to set up, is now set to expand from 800 to 1,245 beds and run until 2030.
Piddington, a village of fewer than 400 residents, faces a proposed nearby site housing up to 1,256 adult male asylum seekers — outnumbering locals four to one.
The Home Office claims closing asylum hotels has already saved taxpayers more than £1bn since the election, but no locations for new sites have yet been announced.
