John Healey promised to steer Britain through “global economic storms,” as he announced a package of measures to cut consumers’ energy bills, funded by a smaller-than-expected windfall tax on banks.
In his first budget, the chancellor said 20m households in council tax bands A to D would receive a £100 payment – a measure he said would cost £2.6bn.
He extended the VAT cut on electricity bills until next July; and as widely expected, cancelled fuel duty rises pencilled in by Rachel Reeves.
Healey said this would back businesses, as well as consumers. “For millions of people, the cost of living and the cost of doing business are the same. The home is the office. The van is the family car,” he said.
Healey blamed the ongoing war in the Middle East for the deterioration in the economic outlook since Reeves’s spring statement, but insisted he would keep Labour’s…
