London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Autumn Statement: Jeremy Hunt warns of challenges as living standards plunge

Autumn Statement: Jeremy Hunt warns of challenges as living standards plunge

Families face "real challenges", Jeremy Hunt has warned, as government forecasters predict the biggest drop in living standards since records began.

The Office for Budget Responsibility says household income will fall by 7% over the next 18 months.

The chancellor said tax rises and a spending squeeze in his Autumn Statement would help tame inflation which he said had caused the drop.

But Labour said he had picked the nation's pockets with "stealth taxes".

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves described the emergency budget measures as "an invoice for the economic carnage" created by the policies of former Prime Minister Liz Truss.

In a sombre statement lasting just under an hour, Mr Hunt undid much of the tax-cutting mini-budget unveiled by his predecessor as chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, only 55 days ago.

It was deliberately stripped of surprises and political theatre, with many of the announcements having been trailed in the media beforehand.

BBC economics editor Faisal Islam said the statement was comprised of two halves - the first covering the years until the next general election in which there would be further support for households, and the second coming after 2025 when spending cuts would kick in.

The key measures were:

*  Tax thresholds will be frozen until April 2028, meaning millions will pay more tax

*  Spending on public services in England will rise more slowly than planned - with some departments facing cuts after the next election

*  The state pensions triple lock will be kept, meaning pensioners will see a 10.1% rise in weekly payments

*  The household energy price cap has been extended for one year beyond April but made less generous, with typical bills capped at £3,000 a year instead of £2,500

*  There will be additional cost-of-living payments for the "most vulnerable", with £900 for those on benefits, and £300 for pensioners

*  The top 45% additional rate of income tax will be paid on earnings over £125,140, instead of £150,000

*  UK minimum wage for people over 23 to increase from £9.50 to £10.42 an hour

*  The windfall tax on oil and gas firms will increase from 25% to 35%, raising £55bn from this year until 2028

Speaking afterwards, Mr Hunt told the BBC's political editor Chris Mason his plan would bring down inflation, while protecting public services.

"These are real challenges for families up and down the country," he said adding: "I'm not pretending these aren't going to be difficult times, but there's a plan, there's hope - and if we follow this plan, if we stick with it, we can get through to the other side.

"We need to be sensible about the way we do this. We don't want to make the recession worse."

The chancellor announced extra money for schools, the NHS and social care in England for the next two years.

Mr Hunt denied that he had been forced to raise taxes and reduce spending because of the turmoil caused by Ms Truss's mini-Budget.

He said there had been mistakes, but insisted the government had "corrected those within weeks".

He argued that other countries, such as Germany, France and America were all facing similar problems as a result of the conflict in Ukraine and rising energy prices.

But, Mr Hunt denied he'd postponed difficult decisions, with the squeeze on government departments to come.

The OBR, which produced an economic forecast to accompany Mr Hunt's Autumn Statement, says high inflation and rising interest rates will lead to consumers spending less, tipping the UK's economy into a recession "lasting just over a year".

It predicts the economy will shrink by 1.4% in 2023 before growth slowly picks up again.

The forecaster also says that as a result of Mr Hunt's decisions, the tax burden would rise to its highest level since the end of World War Two.

Attacking his plans in Parliament, Ms Reeves said Mr Hunt had introduced "a Conservative double whammy that sees frozen tax thresholds and double-digit inflation erode the real value of people's wages".

She accused the government of increasing taxes by "stealth" arguing that freezing the personal allowance - the amount of income someone does not have to pay tax on - would cost an average earner more than £600 per year.

The Liberal Democrats said people were "being forced to pay the price for this Conservative government's incompetence".

The SNP's Treasury spokeswoman Alison Thewliss said: "This is a UK so weak that no-one would wish to join it - Scotland cannot be forced to stay in broke, broken, Brexit Britain."

There was also an attack from the chancellor's own side with former cabinet minister, Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg arguing that the measures announced were based on unreliable economic forecasts.

"I'm particularly concerned about the tax rises, when an economy is going into recession. You have to be slightly easier in a fiscal sense, than you do when you're at the peak of a boom."

Meanwhile, a Conservative MP is seeking assurances from the chancellor that he will not increase fuel duty.

The tax is suppose to rise in line with inflation, but has repeatedly been frozen. The Treasury has said a final decision would not be taken until the next budget in spring 2023.

Writing to the chancellor, Conservative backbencher Jonathan Gullis warned that a "substantial number" of Tory MPs would be opposed to a rise.


Jeremy Hunt: Sound money has to come before tax cuts

Watch: Rachel Reeves on 12 weeks of "Conservative chaos"


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×