Budget 2026 Live: Andy Burnham faces PMQs grilling ahead of John Healey's first Budget

Andy Burnham is facing a showdown in the House of Commons ahead of John Healey's first Budget as Chancellor.

Mr Burnham arrived alongside Mr Healey in the House of Commons for his weekly appearance at Prime Minister's Questions.

Ahead of Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Burnham updated his Cabinet on his plan to change UK-EU relations.

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WATCH NOW: John Healey leaves No11 ahead of first Budget as Chancellor

John Healey has left Downing Street ahead of his first Budget as Chancellor.

Mr Healey posed for photographs outside No11 alongside Treasury ministers Torsten Bell, Lucy Rigby, James Murray, Emma Reynolds, Dan Tomlinson, and Lord Pitt-Watson.

The Chancellor continued the tradition of holding up his iconic red Budget box on the steps of No11.

Ex-Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone started the Budget box tradition after having a wooden case made around 1860.

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Chancellor departs Downing Street ahead of Budget

Chancellor John Healey has left No11 with the infamous red box ahead of his first Budget speech in the House of Commons.

Mr Healey had his "red box moment" as he posed with the briefcase and his team as they made the journey to Parliament.

John Healey set to announce temporary bank tax rise in Budget

Chancellor John Healey is reportedly preparing to raise taxes on banks temporarily in today’s Budget.

The bank surcharge is expected to increase from its current three per cent rate but remain below eight per cent, according to Bloomberg.

The levy stood at eight per cent until 2023.

The surcharge applies to qualifying profits made by banking companies and is charged on top of the standard 25 per cent corporation tax rate.

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Chancellor accused of 'falling short of what the times demand' ahead of Budget

Chancellor John Healey has been accused of "falling short" of what Britain demands ahead of his Budget announcement.

Speaking to GB News, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Richard Fuller said the Chancellor is using "rhetoric" and not "substance".

He said: "The problem here is that John Healey is using a lot of rhetoric and has very little substance.

"We have the Defence Secretary saying to us last week that we have to prepare for war within a thousand days, and we had last week the national debt go through £3trillion. That's £100,000 for every household in the country of government debt.

"What is the Chancellor doing about those big issues? You know, in retrospect, I'm sure the people on the Titanic wish the captain had focused on missing the iceberg, not working out what tunes would be played by the orchestra.

"The Chancellor is falling short of what the times demand, and no amount of rhetoric, however pleasing it may sound to the ear, is going to change the facts of the British economy."

Labour's scrap of gas bill standing charges 'doesn't go nearly far enough', says Reform

Reform UK MP Danny Kruger has called on the Labour Government to "go much further" after announcing an axe to the standing charges on gas bills for Britons.

Speaking to GB News, Mr Kruger said: "We very much welcome these steps, and obviously we've been calling for them for a long time, especially the tax or the green levies and all of the other taxes on bills that have caused the United Kingdom to have the highest electricity bills in the world.

"But I'm afraid this doesn't go nearly far enough. We've got proposals to cut £250 from household energy bills. It's unlikely that these cuts that the Chancellor is announcing will deliver more than £50 of savings. So we need to go a lot further than that.

"We also need to increase the supply of electricity of energy in order to bring down electricity costs, and we're not seeing that for nearly the speed that we need from the Government.

"They need to improve the North Sea gas fields, all of them. We need to speed up nuclear energy generation as well. And we need to go further on scrapping the standing charges."

Martin Lewis 'pleased' with Labour's standing charges axe on gas bills

Martin Lewis said he is "pleased" with Chancellor John Healey’s plan to axe standing charges on gas bills and that he expected a further Budget intervention on household energy bills, which are forecast to soar in January.

The MoneySavingExpert founder, who visited Mr Healey at No11 this morning, said on X: "I’ve just come out of a meeting with the Chancellor.

"The gas standing charge will be scrapped in 2027 (my guess, either for 1 Oct price cap or the 1 Jan 28 price cap). Having campaigned against the moral hazard of standing charges for years, I’m pleased.

"It’s currently £108 a year. That cost will be shifted onto unit rates. We don’t know how much yet, but I suspect just under 1p per kwH.

"The Chancellor also said he will be talking to Ofgem about how they get rid of the charge on electricity as well, but that is ‘trickier’ apparently and will take longer."

He continued: "The biggest issue in energy right now is that we’re expecting a 27% rise in the price cap in January. I asked the Chancellor whether he will be intervening on that. He told me I’d have to wait for the Budget, but reading between the lines, yes, there will be an announcement today.

"Whether it’s an increase in the warm home discount, or whether it’s council tax (band-related), or whether it’s done via a payout for people in say council tax bands A-D as a proxy for household income as Rishi Sunak did who knows."

Chancellor expected to hand 'billions' to benefits claimants in Budget

Chancellor John Healey is expected to hand out "billions" to benefits claimants as he dodges a reform of Britain's ballooning welfare bill.

Ahead of today's Budget statement, it has been revealed that he is expected to increase the tax burden to the highest level on record to help boost welfare handouts.

Labour sources have told the Daily Mail that Mr Healey has set aside "£5.5billion to support a 3.5 per cent increase to benefits", paid to 10 million people.

Official projections suggest the sickness benefits bill will jump to £109billion by the end of the decade.

John Healey 'cannot protect Britons' from 'global shocks' adding to cost of living crisis

Chancellor John Healey is set to admit he "cannot protect Britons" from the "global shocks" which are adding to the surging cost of living crisis.

He is expected to say he does want to give families "breathing space" with everyday costs, especially soaring food and energy bills.

The Chancellor said: “We can’t stop these shocks that hit Britain, but we can make Britain more resilient when they do. The world’s a highly uncertain place.

"Conflicts abroad are pushing up energy prices, and the cost of living here at home – piling pressure on the families, on businesses, and on our public finances."

Gas standing charge scrap will bring 'real relief' to billpayers, anti-fuel poverty campaigner says

Co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition Simon Francis has said the decision to remove gas standing charges would bring "real relief" to many low-income households who use "very little energy".

He said: "It’s also welcome that the Chancellor acknowledges that wider measures are needed to bring down bills and we will wait to see if he matches these words with more action in the Budget later.

"Moving levies off electricity bills and into general taxation, as reported, would also be a positive step. But despite the positives of the gas standing charges proposal, millions of households won’t see a saving.

"This means Ministers have serious questions to answer about who they are and, if they are vulnerable or on low incomes but have high energy needs, how they will be protected."

Martin Lewis visits No11 for crunch talks with John Healey ahead of Budget

Financial expert Martin Lewis has visited Downing Street ahead of Chancellor John Healey's Budget.

Mr Lewis met with the Government for talks ahead of Mr Healey's first Autumn Statement, where he has already announced cuts to standing charges on gas bills.

John Healey says Budget will move towards cutting energy bills 'for good'

John Healey has promised to use his first Budget to move to cut energy bills "for good" as Labour seeks to ease surging costs for households and businesses.

The Chancellor is expected to announce a freeze in fuel duty and plans for longer-term reforms, saying his focus would be on making Britain "more resilient" to global shocks following the Iran war.

In a video message before he delivers the autumn statement on Wednesday, Mr Healey acknowledged the country was facing a "difficult moment" and promised changes would be made "responsibly" within Labour’s fiscal rules.

He said: "Breathing space for today and fresh hope for the future. That’s what today’s Budget will deliver.

"The world’s a highly uncertain place. Conflicts abroad are pushing up energy prices, and the cost of living here at home is piling pressure on families, on businesses, and on our public finances.

"But Britain’s economy is showing real signs of resilience: investments up, productivity is growing, and we had the joint fastest growth in the G7 in the first half of this year."

Mr Healey added: "This Budget is designed to give households breathing space from some of the everyday costs, provide targeted support for businesses and self-employed people, and to start the long-term action needed to get energy costs down for good."

Chancellor will scrap standing charges from gas bills for Britons

Chancellor John Healey will scrap standing charges from household bills for Britons from 2027 "or as soon as possible after", the Treasury said.

Ahead of today's Budget, the Government has announced plans to save Britons an average of £45 per year on their bills.

Instead of the standing charges, homeowners will pay fixed costs on the unit rate.

Mr Healey said of the move: "Gas standing charges are unfair and outdated so I am scrapping them to give millions of households a bit of breathing space.

"My Budget will draw a line in the sand on an energy policy that has failed British billpayers for years, letting extra costs on bills pile high and leaving households even more exposed to global shocks."

What do we know so far? 

Here's what we know so far ahead of John Healey's first budget:

Firstly, The Sun reports Labour will cancel January’s planned increase in fuel duty and keep the levy rate frozen for the 16th year at 52p per litre.

Labour will also make a higher tax-free mileage allowance of 55p permanent and slash tariffs on a range of popular foods, including chocolate, beans and gherkins, to make them cheaper for shoppers.

Also, the minimum wage will reportedly rise by nearly four per cent, ending the trend of hiking it faster for those aged 18 to 20 than for older workers, and instead raising it roughly in line with the rate for over 21-year-olds.

Lastly, Labour will scrap the Carers’ Allowance cliff edge, which has penalised unpaid carers for earning even a few pence per week over their earnings limit.

Here's what the opposition parties are saying:

With John Healey's first budget just hours away, here's what all the opposition parties have to say ahead of Labour's major economic announcement:

Conservative shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith said Mr Healey "must stop maxing out the nation's credit card, tackle the out-of-control welfare bill and address rising global threats."

He added if the Chancellor "fudges defence spending rather than properly funding three per cent by 2030 in his budget, he must resign".

Reform UK's Robert Jenrick said Mr Healey "can't keep fiddling while the economy burns", adding "the only way to give hardworking families and businesses relief is to first reduce spending".

Elsewhere, Green Party Treasury spokeswoman Dr Ellie Chowns said: "Britain needs a genuinely bold Budget, one which taxes extreme wealth and profits fairly, makes life more affordable for struggling households and invests in our long-term climate resilience.

"Huge inequality and climate breakdown cannot be tackled by tinkering around the edges."

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said Labour must "cut energy bills, slash fuel duty and reduce VAT on our treasured pubs, restaurants and cafes."

British shopkeepers make last-ditch plea to John Healey amid existential threat from dodgy vape shops

British shopkeepers have banded together to issue a last-ditch plea to John Healey as dodgy vape shops blight UK high streets.

Last night, convenience store owners raised the alarm that rogue stores are driving hard-working, law-abiding Britons from honest jobs.

Earlier this year, the Home Secretary announced £30million in funding to raid and close thousands of illegal shops, arrest dodgy bosses and seize dirty cash.

But, in a joint statement, seen by GB News, store directors Natalie Lightfoot of Londis Solo Convenience in Glasgow, Trudy Davies of Woodnam & Davies News in Llanidloes, Wales, and Paul Cheema of Malcolm’s in Coventry said existing structures were not enough to protect family businesses.

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Andy Burnham orders Miatta Fahnbulleh to examine scrapping standing charges from gas bills

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has also ordered the Chancellor and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to examine scrapping standing charges from gas bills.

According to the Times, the Chancellor will announce plans to scrap green levies from energy bills and move them to general taxation, as well as commit the Government to delinking gas and electricity prices.

He will have limited scope for big giveaways because of stretched public finances, made worse by international market turmoil caused by the Iran war, and little has been leaked ahead of his statement on Wednesday.

Mr Healey is sticking with the fiscal rules set by predecessor Rachel Reeves, requiring day-to-day spending to be financed by taxes rather than borrowing by 2029/30 and that public debt as a share of the economy should fall in the same year.