Autumn Budget 2025
You could be forgiven for thinking that the run up to Rachel Reeves’ second Budget got underway in early summer. It was in June that the government climbed down on the winter fuel payment, while July saw cuts to disability benefits abandoned. Together those U-turns created a fiscal hole of around £6 billion by 2029/30. Given that in March 2025 Reeves had left herself only £9.9 billion of fiscal headroom, £6 billion was enough to fire the starting gun for speculation about Budget tax rises.