Budget forecasts cause borrowing costs to fall in UK

Rachel Reeves has declared her budget will slash living costs for millions including ending the two-child benefit limit and cutting energy bills, but taxes are set to soar by £26bn to plug a gaping shortfall in the public finances, reports the Guardian. 

As Richard Partington and Jessica Elgot report, major measures in the budget leaked early in a shock accidental release by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), triggering an instant bond market reaction an hour before the chancellor was on her feet in the House of Commons. 

After months of speculation, Reeves said her measures would put the public finances on a sustainable path while building "a fairer, a stronger, a more secure Britain" by tackling inflation and investing in large infrastructure projects. She also built herself a larger £22bn of headroom - to stave off future cycles of pre-budget speculation that she will miss her fiscal rules and to bring down borrowing costs. 

Here are assessments of the budget from a Guardian panel featuring Polly Toynbee, Julia Davies, Abi O'Connor, Jason Okundaye, John Redwood, Sarah Nankivell and Andy Summers. While the Treasury insists its plans are realistic and deliverable, there is also some skepticism inside the party over the timing, with the biggest rises pencilled in for around the time of the next election.

And there is deep concern over living standards. The Resolution Foundation said the outlook had worsened significantly, with disposable incomes rising by a "paltry" 0.5% a year over this parliament - the second worst since records began in the 1950s - and a projected rise in unemployment.
But for now at least, the budget has done its job politically and averted an immediate leadership crisis. The whispers around Starmer and his chancellor's future have subsided.

This Labour benefits street budget is a total humiliation - and a total betrayal of the British people.
Labour promised not to raise tax in their manifesto. Then, when Rachel Reeves broke that promise last autumn, she assured us she wouldn't be back for more.

Now, instead of showing some backbone and getting spending under control, Reeves has launched a welfare splurge and paid for it by hiking taxes on working people.