𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Chancellor John Healey delivered his first Budget on Wednesday. But he has faced criticism that it did not go far enough and did little to address Britain’s challenges.

The 56-minute statement sought to provide “breathing space” for the public amid the rising prices exacerbated by the Iran war. Measures announced include scrapping charges on gas bills and energy payments of £100 for up to 20million households in council tax bands A to D.

But there were some glaring omissions from the statement.

Andy Burnham’s arrival at 10 Downing Street sparked fresh hope among farmers that the inheritance tax raid could be fully scrapped. Two years ago, then-chancellor Rachel Reeves used her first Budget to slap inheritance tax on farms worth over £1million.

The move sparked a furious backlash, with warnings that it could spell the end of family farms across the country and fears over UK food security. Farms tend to be worth a lot on paper due to the value of land and machinery, but often do not have much cash in the bank.

Sir Keir Starmer increased the threshold to £2.5million last year, but farmers want it totally axed. However, the family farm tax was not mentioned by the Chancellor in his Budget, to the disappointment of farmers and rural campaigners.

The Chancellor failed to set out how he will bring down the eye-watering benefits bill in his Budget. Labour is facing criticism from the Conservatives and Reform UK over welfare, with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accusing Mr Burnham’s party of being “addicted to spending other people’s money and addicted to welfare” in her response to Mr Healey’s statement.

The fiscal watchdog has predicted sickness and disability benefits could cost a huge £100billion a year before the end of the decade. Meanwhile, the influential Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank warned the Budget delayed tough decisions.

Mr Healey is facing fresh scrutiny in the wake of the Budget after suggesting he wanted the bill to start falling before the next general election. However, Treasury officials later stressed he was not setting a timeframe for the welfare reduction.

The PM insisted on Thursday that the Government is working “flat out” to cut the ballooning costs of welfare spending.

One of the biggest problems facing Mr Healey and his government colleagues is how to end the invasion of small boat migrants entering the UK unlawfully. Poll after poll shows that voters are furious about the failure to stop cross-Channel crossings.

But the Chancellor made no mention of this problem in his Budget speech to MPs. In fact, he had almost nothing to say about immigration at all.

Instead, the Treasury’s plans were buried away in a lengthy document published on a government website.

A short section in the 152-page “red book” reveals that the Government is providing £150million to fund large sites to accommodate asylum seekers. It follows schemes that have sparked protests in places such as Piddington, Oxfordshire, which declared “independence” over plans to house 1,256 male asylum seekers at a nearby former military base.

Perhaps it’s no wonder Mr Healey wanted to keep this announcement under wraps.