Chancellor To Announce Budget Date Before End-July

Delivering her first speech as Chancellor, Labour's Rachel Reeves has confirmed that she will confirm the date of the incoming Labour gov'ts first autumn Budget by end-July, before the House of Commons goes on its summer recess. The chancellor did not, however, indicate when in the autumn the Budget would be delivered.

• As incoming chancellors are often wont to do, Reeves set a downbeat tone for the outlook for UK finances, rolling the pitch for the prospect of tighter gov't spending or greater tax hikes in the next budget.
• Reeves: "What I have seen in the past 72 hours has only confirmed that there is no money, [...] over the weekend, I instructed Treasury officials to provide an assessment of the state of our spending inheritance so that I can understand the full scale of the challenge. And I will present this to parliament before the summer recess.This will be separate from a budget that will be held later this year. And I will confirm the date of that budget alongside a forecast from the Office of Budget Responsibility in due course."