Burnham's first Budget: 'Is that it?'

The News Agents

Wednesday, 28 October 2026 - 43 minutes

If the Chancellor wanted to deliver a quiet budget then this was probably it. Even the opposition couldn’t find that many big ticket items to criticise, leaving Kemi Badenoch plaintively asking: "is that it?". Big decisions were delayed through taskforces and spending reviews into next year. Small measures will help small businesses, families with skyrocketing energy bills, the high street, and dads on paternity leave. But broadly this Budget contained tonnes of little things - small measures that won’t make much of a fiscal ripple. Is the Chancellor too hemmed in by Labour's red lines and the reverberations of Trump and Netanyahu's wars to really make a difference? And why is his PM still pushing on the Europe door? We ask Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.

Later - Israel has voted, so why don't we know whether Netanyahu is finished or not?

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