Chancellor delivers pre budget speech - 4th November 2025

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has made a ‘pre budget’ speech this morning from Downing Street, she laid out the framework for a possibly tough Budget ahead, signalling that tax rises or other hard choices may be required, while emphasizing fairness and avoiding a return to the austerity of the past.

Reeves said the Budget will focus on fairness, opportunity and stability, protecting the NHS, tackling debt and easing living costs. She insisted her commitment to fiscal rules is “iron-clad” and said the UK’s public finances are under pressure; borrowing costs have risen, productivity is weaker than previously thought, and she rejected the idea that spending cuts are the way forward.

She refused to confirm that she would stick to the election manifesto pledge of no rises in income tax for “working people”, instead says she has to “face the world as it is” and respond to the economic challenges. She indicated that a reform of the business rates system is on the agenda, aimed particularly at high street and small businesses, because the current system “was designed for a previous age, not for a digital age”.