This year’s biggest talking points

One of the big questions ahead of the Budget is whether those who rely on the state pension could end up paying income tax.

After last year’s increase, the state pension was just below the £12,570 personal allowance threshold, with the triple lock almost guaranteeing it would exceed it this year – meaning the benefit would become taxable for the first time in history.

But Healey is predicted to increase the tax-free allowance for pensioners on low incomes to £13,036 – the expected new state pension level – to prevent this from happening, according to the Sunday Times.

The chancellor is also expected to announce a series of ‘deep reforms’ to the UK’s energy system to bring down household bills, possibly including measures to ‘decouple’ gas from electricity prices.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham last week said he had instructed Healey and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to ‘look at’ removing standing charges from gas bills. The result may emerge at the Budget.

Healey is thought to be planning billions in extra spending for defense.

WATCH: Roars of laughter after John Healey says the government ‘opposed’ rather than ‘approved’ controversial gas drilling project

The Chancellor of the Exchequer made a slip up for the ages in his budget speech, accidentally saying the energy secretary ‘opposed’, rather than ‘approved ‘, fresh drilling at Jackdaw gas field.

It was a controversial project approval, with intense debate about the project’s environmental and economic impact.

Jackdaw is situated 150 miles (241km) east of Aberdeen.

What will John Healey talk about in the rest of the Budget?

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has set out what his first Autumn Budget will cover.

He told the packed House of Commons at the start of his budget: ‘This is a Budget for the working people of Britain.

‘First, by giving Britain some breathing space on the cost of living and the cost of business; second, backing the enterprise of British business to unleash innovation and growth in every postcode, and third, tackling the big challenges on energy, national security, public service transformation and housing.’

The Autumn Budget begins with John Healey declaring: ‘This is for the working people of Britain’

The Autumn Budget has been kicked off, with the Chancellor of the Exchequer laying out their will be ‘breathing room on the cost of living’, innovation ‘in every postcode’ and tackling issues like defence.

It is the first budget of Andy Burnham’s premiership.

Mr Healey said: ‘It is an honour to stand here as Chancellor to deliver my first Budget, I hoped that I’d be the most closely watched member of the Government this week, but then the Prime Minister went on Gogglebox.’

He also paid tribute to his predecessor, Rachel Reeves, who was Britain’s first ever female Chancellor.

PMQs kicks off – and Nancy Pelosi is here

Prime Minister’s Questions has begun, meaning the countdown is on to the Budget speech.

Andy Burnham has gone head-to-head with Kemi Badenoch with the usual sparring, warming up ahead of today’s main event.

And Sir Lindsay Hoyle has shouted out an unlikely attendee – American politician Nancy Pelosi.

It appears Nigel Farage has snubbed the announcement, but all of his Reform UK MP colleagues are in the chamber.

What we already know about the Budget

Here’s what the Treasury has spilled the beans on already for the upcoming Budget after it unveiled five ‘everyday fixes’.

For those in a bit of a pickle, import tariffs on products like baked beans, chocolate and gherkins have been removed. This is the ‘everyday fix’ that has caught most people’s attention (and enabled our horrible puns). The Treasury has said this will save households up to £21 on their food shop each year, so more beans and crudites for all!

The carers’ cliff edge is now a nice sloping hill. Unpaid carers used to lose their entire Carer’s Allowance for earning a single penny over their weekly earnings limit. Now, every extra £1 they earn will taper away £1 of support. (That might mean more baked beans for them too!)

‘Baby, you can drive my car’ is what the 3,000,000 people who use their own vehicle for work are now singing. The Treasury has announced permanent higher tax-free mileage rates: 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles and now 35p, from 25p, per mile above 10,000 miles.

Father of the year award goes to… 150,000 additional parents per year who now have two weeks of parental pay! This includes self-employed dads and partners who previously missed out, currently worth up to £194 a week.

And finally, hundreds more Post Office drop boxes have been announced, which means it’s easier and quicker to send and return parcels. The total is now 1,000 and comes alongside upgrades to 600 Post Office branches by the end of the financial year.

Is minimum wage going up?

Yes – but younger workers won’t see increases like the ones they have in previous years.

The minimum wage is different for apprentices, workers under 18, 18-20-year-olds, and those aged 21 and over.

The minimum pay for younger workers is set to rise in line with the increase in pay for over-20s.

This is a smaller increase than the 26% Labour has implemented for under-21s since they returned to government in 2024.

Even after the reported rise, the rate will still be below the National Living Wage for older workers – £12.71 an hour.

The Times reported it is set to rise by 3.9% to £13.20.

Andrea Egan, general secretary of the union Unison, said it was ‘deeply unfair’ to offer different rates of pay, in theory for the same job.

She said: ’20-year-old care workers, teaching assistants and security guards do the same work as their older colleagues.

‘They don’t pay less in the supermarket or at the petrol pump. They must be paid equally.’

Martin Lewis gives verdict on ‘moral hazard’ of gas standing charges

The Chancellor announced this morning that he would be scrapping gas standing charges, which are automatically put on bills, in today’s Budget.

As things stand, that means even people who use no gas at all still must pay them.

The move has come as welcome news to Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis, who said he had been campaigning ‘for years’ to scrap the charge.

Speaking to the Today programme, Mr Lewis said: ‘They’re a moral hazard, they’re a disincentive for many users to cut their bills.

‘So many people get in touch with me saying, “Half my bill is standing charges, nothing I can do about it, it doesn’t make any difference.” They’re a poll tax on energy, if you like.’

However, Mr Lewis emphasised that thechange ‘isn’t going to bring the materiality of people’s energy bills down’.

The chancellor himself described the charges as ‘unfair and outdated’.

You can read more about Martin Lewis’ thoughts here.

How long is the Budget speech?

At 12.00pm, Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) will kick off in the House of Commons.

Then, at 12.30pm, Healey will present his Budget to MPs. At the same time, the Treasury will publish a more detailed report of the plans online.

Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch is expected to deliver her response at 1.30pm.

A press conference with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will be held at 2.30pm.

John Healey leaves Downing Street carrying the big red box

The Chancellor has been pictured outside Number 11 carrying the famous red box, which contains details of this year’s Budget.

These will be revealed in his speech in an hour’s time.

For now, you can read about the history of the red box here.

More than eight in 10 of us are worried about rising supermarket prices

Some 83% of Brits are concerned about rising food prices, while 82% are worried about inflation, according to a poll of more than 2,000 UK adults commissioned by the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

And it seems they may be right to be.

BRC’s latest Shop Price Monitor showed a 2.1% rise in shop price inflation for October – the highest since February 2024.

Food prices were also up 2.9% over the year.

Already, Healey has announced that tariffs on some supermarket staples, including baked beans, gherkins and chocolate, will be slashed as part of five ‘everyday fixes’ set out earlier this week.

What time is the Budget and what channels can I watch it on?

The Budget announcement is set to begin at 12.30pm today.

It is being broadcast live in a number of places. You can watch it on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, ITV, Sky News and Parliamentlive.tv.