The Budget: Losing A Few Pounds

Kemi Badenoch accuses Keir Starmer of leaving defence spending in a mess for Andy Burnham, but Starmer blames the Tories for underfunding the military when they were in government. Hugo Rifkind unpacks the exchanges with Patrick Maguire, Stefan Boscia and comedian Alisdair Becket ...  Show more

Keir Starmer unveils the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan in one of his final acts as prime minister. But what will the incoming PM, Andy Burnham, make of it all? Hugo Rifkind unpacks the politics of the day with Charlotte Ivers and James Marriott.You can hear more of Hugo on ...  Show more

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s overriding message in his big pre-election Budget was that hard economic choices were paying off in the form of tumbling inflation, improved growth and the promise of more cuts to personal taxes. But his Budget also promises a brutal fiscal reckoning f ...

In the words of ABBA, and Keir Starmer, Money Money Money - the Labour leader announced this morning in Manchester that wealth creation was the ‘number one priority’ for the party.Hannah Barnes, associate editor, is joined by Rachel Cunliffe, associate political editor, and senio ...  Show more

Chancellor Rishi Sunak presented his second Budget this week, tearing up Conservative economic orthodoxy with billions of pounds of spending and tax rises. What state are the UK's public finances in? And will he actually go ahead with planned spending cuts? Plus, we examine th ...

The chancellor unveiled a £55bn plan for fiscal tightening this week, with the biggest drop in living standards for 70 years. We unpack all of the fiscal forecasts, tax rises, spending cuts and how Rishi Sunak can navigate the tricky politics. Plus, we also examine whethe ...