Autumn Statement: Tax rises and spending cuts are fair, chancellor says

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced heavy spending cuts and taxation rises successful an autumn connection helium said was "fair" and would reconstruct marketplace assurance shaken by his predecessor's mini-budget.

He said astir fractional of his £55bn "plan for stability" would travel from taxation rises, and the remainder from spending cuts.

Mr Hunt said the UK was "now successful recession" but insisted his program would mean a "shallower downturn".

He said "difficult decisions" were indispensable to "rebuild our economy".

Responding to Mr Hunt, Labour's shadiness chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said the UK was being held backmost by "12 years of Conservative economical failure".

"Never again tin the Conservatives beryllium seen arsenic the enactment of economical competence," she said.

In a connection to MPs lasting conscionable nether an hour, the chancellor said income taxation thresholds would beryllium frozen until April 2028, which means millions of radical volition wage much tax.

"I person tried to beryllium just by pursuing 2 wide principles: firstly, we inquire those with much to lend more; and secondly, we debar the taxation rises that astir harm growth," helium said.

On nationalist spending, helium said section budgets would look real-terms cuts due to the fact that of ostentation and unit connected nationalist assemblage wages.

Mr Hunt told MPs "this is simply a balanced way to stability: tackling the ostentation to trim the outgo of surviving and support pensioner savings whilst supporting the system connected a way to sustainable growth".

The autumn connection is simply a important trial of assurance successful Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose ruling Conservative Party is lagging acold down Labour successful the sentiment polls.

It comes 55 days aft his predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng, touted a "new epoch for Britain", unveiling the biggest bundle of taxation cuts successful decades.

The alleged mini-budget included astir £45bn of unfunded taxation cuts and was followed by days of marketplace turbulence, a autumn successful the worth of the lb and rising UK authorities borrowing costs.

In his statement, Mr Hunt said: "I recognize the information of my predecessor's mini-budget and helium was close to place maturation arsenic a priority. But unfunded taxation cuts are arsenic risky arsenic unfunded spending."