London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Dec 15, 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
Prince Harry and Meghan’s Potential UK Return Gains New Momentum Amid Security Review and Royal Dialogue
Zelensky Opens High-Stakes Peace Talks in Berlin with Trump Envoy and European Leaders
Historical Reflections on Press Freedom Emerge Amid Debate Over Trump’s Media Policies
UK Boosts Protection for Jewish Communities After Sydney Hanukkah Attack
UK Government Declines to Comment After ICC Prosecutor Alleges Britain Threatened to Defund Court Over Israel Arrest Warrant
Apple Shutters All Retail Stores in the United Kingdom Under New National COVID-19 Lockdown
US–UK Technology Partnership Strains as Key Trade Disagreements Emerge
UK Police Confirm No Further Action Over Allegation That Andrew Asked Bodyguard to Investigate Virginia Giuffre
Giuffre Family Expresses Deep Disappointment as UK Police Decline New Inquiry Into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Claims
Transatlantic Trade Ambitions Hit a Snag as UK–US Deal Faces Emerging Challenges
Ex-ICC Prosecutor Alleges UK Threatened to Withdraw Funding Over Netanyahu Arrest Warrant Bid
UK Disciplinary Tribunal Clears Carter-Ruck Lawyer of Misconduct in OneCoin Case
‘Pink Ladies’ Emerge as Prominent Face of UK Anti-Immigration Protests
Nigel Farage Says Reform UK Has Become Britain’s Largest Party as Labour Membership Falls Sharply
Google DeepMind and UK Government Launch First Automated AI Lab to Accelerate Scientific Discovery
UK Economy Falters Ahead of Budget as Growth Contracts and Confidence Wanes
Australia Approves Increased Foreign Stake in Strategic Defence Shipbuilder
Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson proclaims, “For Ukraine, surrendering their land would be a nightmare.”
Microsoft Challenges £2.1 Billion UK Cloud Licensing Lawsuit at Competition Tribunal
Fake Doctor in Uttar Pradesh Accused of Killing Woman After Performing YouTube-Based Surgery
Hackers Are Hiding Malware in Open-Source Tools and IDE Extensions
Traveling to USA? Homeland Security moving toward requiring foreign travelers to share social media history
UK Officials Push Back at Trump Saying European Leaders ‘Talk Too Much’ About Ukraine
UK Warns of Escalating Cyber Assault Linked to Putin’s State-Backed Operations
UK Consumer Spending Falters in November as Households Hold Back Ahead of Budget
UK Orders Fresh Review of Prince Harry’s Security Status After Formal Request
U.S. Authorises Nvidia to Sell H200 AI Chips to China Under Security Controls
Trump in Direct Assault: European Leaders Are Weak, Immigration a Disaster. Russia Is Strong and Big — and Will Win
"App recommendation" or disguised advertisement? ChatGPT Premium users are furious
"The Great Filtering": Australia Blocks Hundreds of Thousands of Minors From Social Networks
Mark Zuckerberg Pulls Back From Metaverse After $70 Billion Loss as Meta Shifts Priorities to AI
Nvidia CEO Says U.S. Data-Center Builds Take Years while China ‘Builds a Hospital in a Weekend’
Indian Airports in Turmoil as IndiGo Cancels Over a Thousand Flights, Stranding Thousands
Hollywood Industry on Edge as Netflix Secures Near-$60 Bln Loan for Warner Bros Takeover
Drugs and Assassinations: The Connection Between the Italian Mafia and Football Ultras
Hollywood megadeal: Netflix acquires Warner Bros. Discovery for 83 billion dollars
The Disregard for a Europe ‘in Danger of Erasure,’ the Shift Toward Russia: Trump’s Strategic Policy Document
Two and a Half Weeks After the Major Outage: A Cloudflare Malfunction Brings Down Multiple Sites
UK data-regulator demands urgent clarity on racial bias in police facial-recognition systems
Labour Uses Biscuits to Explain UK Debt — MPs Lean Into Social Media to Reach New Audiences
German President Lays Wreath at Coventry as UK-Germany Reaffirm Unity Against Russia’s Threat
UK Inquiry Finds Putin ‘Morally Responsible’ for 2018 Novichok Death — London Imposes Broad Sanctions on GRU
India backs down on plan to mandate government “Sanchar Saathi” app on all smartphones
King Charles Welcomes German President Steinmeier to UK in First State Visit by Berlin in 27 Years
UK Plans Major Cutback to Jury Trials as Crown Court Backlog Nears 80,000
UK Government to Significantly Limit Jury Trials in England and Wales
U.S. and U.K. Seal Drug-Pricing Deal: Britain Agrees to Pay More, U.S. Lifts Tariffs
UK Postpones Decision Yet Again on China’s Proposed Mega-Embassy in London
Head of UK Budget Watchdog Resigns After Premature Leak of Reeves’ Budget Report
Car-sharing giant Zipcar to exit UK market by end of 2025
×