The 2026 budget has been revealed; how will it affect you personally, will it change the country and has chancellor John Healey done enough to prepare for the challenges ahead? Our money and economics editors Hilary Osborne and Heather Stewart are on line now answering your questions
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Sign up or sign in to join the discussion. Post your questions in the comments below.
DrJWCC asks: For those of us who live out in the wilds, who are not on mains gas (as in, LPG tanks) will we benefit from standing charge removal? I’m assuming not.
Hilary says: I’m afraid the standing charge removal will not help you, but some of the other measures will hopefully reduce your overall energy bills. The extension of the VAT cut on energy will be for everyone, so that’s about £50 off your annual costs. If you live in council tax bands A-D you will get the £100 payment in January. And there are some measures targeted at people who are not on mains gas. Tariffs on kerosene are being scrapped for two years, which should reduce costs for those who rely on heating oil, and the boiler upgrade scheme was left untouched. The scheme offers £9,000 to homeowners in England and Wales who want to install a heatpump.
Heather says: If you mean the basic rate threshold, it did rise repeatedly from 2010-2020, starting under the Conservative/LibDem coalition, to 44% of average earnings – but yes it’s been frozen for quite a while since, so it kicks in at about 34% of average earnings now. I think the Labour objection to raising it further would be that it’s not a very progressive way of making a tax cut, because it’s set so high already (£12,570) that the lowest earners already don’t pay tax and so wouldn’t benefit from further rises. Completely agree re complicated tweaks to the system, though – the simpler and clearer it is, the better.
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