Badenoch says Healey’s budget will be worse than Reeves’s if he doesn’t slash spending – UK politics live

Conservative leader to give a speech later, while Treasury sources say Healey has ruled out a rise in capital gains tax Good morning. John Healey, the chancellor, is delivering his first budget a week tomorrow, and this morning there are two news developments that will help to frame the way it is received. The most important is on the front page of the Times, where Steven Swinford has a story firming up that has already been hinted that: that Healey has decided not to raise capital gains tax in the budget. This is significant because a capital gains tax hike was for a while seen as the government’s preferred money-raising ploy, not least because several senior figures in the cabinet were lobbying for one earlier this year. But now it is off the table, according to Swinford. He says: Senior allies of Andy Burnham, including several cabinet ministers, have been pressing for a rise in capital gains tax on the sale of second homes, shares and other assets to help repair the public finances. However, the chancellor has ruled this out after warnings that it could ultimately cost the government money if wealthy individuals left the UK or deferred selling assets … John Healey is not Rachel Reeves. Many people see that as an improvement. Continue reading...