Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will deliver the autumn statement this morning at 11.30am. He is expected to introduce a variety of tax rises and spending cuts designed to weather an economic “storm”.
Hunt will finish speaking in the commons at around 12.30pm at which point his fiscal plans (including the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts) will appear on the government website.
At 2pm, the OBR will set out its workings in a presentation. This is the first time the official fiscal watchdog will make its findings known since the mini-budget produced by Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng.
Kwarteng’s refusal to allow the Office for Budget Responsibility to assess his planned tax cuts contributed to the market fallout following the mini-budget.
Hunt’s new fiscal package, which has now largely been briefed out, is expected to be in the form of £30bn of spending cuts and £24bn in tax rises over the next five years.
Cumulatively, the budget is expected to save the UK government a total estimate of £54 billion.
Hunt is expected to increase benefits, pensions and tax credits by inflation. However, support for energy bills will be trimmed. The average annual bill could rise to £3,000 in the spring, from the current £2,500 cap. A windfall tax on energy generators is also expected.
The government hopes the plan will get a grip on soaring inflation and limit rising interest rates.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), prices rose 11.1 per cent over the last year, pushing the rate a whole percentage point higher from September.
The government will also argue that the measures are needed to fill a so-called fiscal black hole – the gap between what the government raises and spends.
Hunt has said today: “Today we are having to take some difficult decisions to restore stability, bring inflation down and balance the nation’s books.
“So this is our plan to build a stronger economy, protect public services and make sure we look after our most vulnerable”.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak echoes the point about restoring stability, saying: “Today’s statement will help deliver the long-term stability this country needs”.
Labour said the country was “being held back by 12 years of Tory economic failure and wasted opportunities”, with working people “paying the price”.
