What can we expect in the Spring Statement 2025? – Wednesday’s Spring Statement, set to be announced by the chancellor this afternoon, dominates much of the UK news this morning. There is continued speculation over how severe the chancellor’s cuts to public spending will be amid promises that she is hunting growth for the UK economy.
The latest UK inflation figures are set to be released this morning, ahead of the chancellor’s statement, which will be delivered at 12:30 in the Commons.
Elsewhere, Prince Harry has stepped down from his role at the charity he co-founded after a row between the trustees and the chair of its board.
On the international front, the ongoing fallout with the Trump administration after the Yemen bombing plans were accidently shared with a journalist and there’s extensive coverage of the devastating wildfires sweeping South Korea, having already killed 18 people.
When is the spring statement – and what do you need to know about it?
What can we expect in the Spring Statement 2025?
The speculation over what’s to come is stretching far and wide as departments prepare for a squeeze and charities worry over how the poorest in the UK will be affected. Reeves will deliver her statement in the Commons at 12:30 on Wednesday, the 26th, 2025.
- The Guardian leads on concerns about what the chancellor is set to announce. It says she is due to promise to “secure Britain’s future” by boosting defence spending, but adds there is speculation she will be forced to raise taxes in the autumn Budget.
- The Daily Mirror has an exclusive interview with Rachel Reeves, saying she is on a “mission” to make Britain strong enough to combat global threats. Reeves has told the paper that the UK is ready to face down Russia but also promises poor people will not be forced to pay the price. The chancellor tells the paper, “we will always protect those who most need it.”
- The Sun says the extra cash for defence will offer a “turbo-boost” and will offset gloomy economic forecasts.
- The FT looks at the chancellor’s defence pledges, saying she will promise to boost spending by £2.2bn next year. The paper Reeves will make the case that a “changing world” has disrupted her economic plans as well as saying she is providing military and economic security to British people. The paper predicts the statement will be dominated by dismal growth, a fiscal hole and admission that things might be worse.
- Daily Mail says the chancellor will seek to shift blame over the failing economy. The paper says the “beleaguered chancellor” has been struck a blow by a “bombshell poll” which suggests voters blame her for the situation. The Mail also notes that experts from the OBR are expected to warn that “living standards are set to stagnate for the rest of the decade.”
- The Times says Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, was forced to seek further cuts after the Office for Budget Responsibility rejected her welfare savings estimate. The paper also predicts deeper benefit cuts and further unease on the Labour backbenches.
- The Telegraph reports the chancellor will argue that international factors are the key reasons why the UK’s economic outlook has worsened.
How the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish papers have reacted:
- The Scotsman says the Chancellor will promise “security and national renewal today as she unveils an extra £2.2 billion funding boost for defence in her Spring Statement, paid for by cuts to the international aid budget.
- The Herald says Reeves has been warned that pushing ahead with planned welfare reforms in a bid to save 15 billion will lead to “more premature deaths”.
- The National says a Scottish Labour MP has been slammed after telling a constituent he is “proud” of the UK Government’s attempts to get people off benefits.
- Western Mail reports Reeves will acknowledge she needs to go “further and faster to kickstart growth as she scrambles for savings to help balance the UK’s books without hiking taxes.
Trump team backlash
The media continues to report on the backlash facing Donald Trump’s top team after a journalist was accidently added to a group chat in which he was able to read plans being discussed by top officials on bombing Yemen and what they think of Europe!
- The FT attacks what it calls the “sheer amateurism” of the Trump White House in the use of the messaging app to discuss plans to bomb Yemen. The paper says allies could now question what intelligence they are prepared to share with Washington.
- The Daily Mirror mocks the story, saying, “Dunce upon a time in America.”
- Metro reports that Trump dismissed the “humiliating” leak of US military attack plans on Yemen to a journalist. It says Trump backed his national security adviser, Mike Walz, as a “good man”. A White House source has a more colourful way of describing Walz to Metro, calling him an “idiot”.
- The Telegraph’s cartoonist shows an editorial meeting at a parish magazine where a man says, “publish the date of the jumble sale, but not the US bombing plans. Those were sent to us by mistake”.
- The Daily Star mocks the vice president, saying “JD Dunce”. It asks: “Is this the most dangerous man in the world?” The paper notes that comments from Vance in the leaked messages “revealed new insults to Britain and our allies,” accusing the possible next US president of hating the UK, Europe and Ukraine.
