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Rishi Sunak will hit the airwaves to sell his budget later, after it was warned that the chancellor’s economic set piece will leave the poorest families “far worse off”.

Having vowed to build “a stronger economy for the British people” after the coronavirus crisis in his address on Wednesday, Mr Sunak will face questions about his plans for the nation’s finances in a series of broadcast interviews.

MPs will also get the chance to give their views, with the budget debate continuing in the Commons.

The chancellor warned of “challenging” months ahead due to the continuing COVID pandemic and rising inflation as he delivered his budget.

Promising to provide “help for working families with the cost of living”, Mr Sunak announced he would lower the taper rate of Universal Credit from 63% to 55%.

The move means that, for every extra £1 someone earns, their Universal Credit will be reduced by 55p rather than 63p.

Mr Sunak also announced a new post-Brexit system of alcohol duties, including a lower rate of tax on draught beer and cider to boost pubs.

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And with petrol prices having hit a record high across the UK, the chancellor cancelled a planned rise in fuel duty.

In a bid to support high streets, Mr Sunak unveiled a new year-long 50% business rates discount for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.

Given the budget was delivered amid the backdrop of a continuing cost of living crisis that is putting pressure on household budgets, particular attention was paid to measures to try to ease the strain on people’s finances.

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Sunak unveils big spending budget

But delivering its snap assessment of the chancellor’s budget, the Resolution Foundation suggested the bottom fifth of households will be worse off to the tune of £280 a year because of welfare cuts and tax increases.

The think tank said a typical worker on £29,000 could also end up worse off as rising inflation – which is predicted to peak at 4.4% in March – will “all but end income growth next year” as the cost of living goes up.

Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said the reduction in the Universal Credit taper would “soften, rather than tackle, the cost of living crisis facing millions of families across the UK today”.

He continued: “The welcome £3bn boost to Universal Credit will have offset some of the losses from the £6bn cut that took effect earlier this month.

“But while some higher-earning couples on Universal Credit are likely to be better off, the poorest families in the UK will still be far worse off over the coming months.”

The Institute for Fiscal Studies, which will deliver its full verdict on the budget later, said people will not necessarily feel better off.

“Inflation is going to head up to 4%, even 5%. We have big tax rises coming next April,” said the research institute’s director Paul Johnson in the immediate aftermath on Wednesday.

“The economy’s not really growing very fast, so it’s likely on average people’s incomes will only be crawling over the next three, four, even five years and certainly some people, particularly those whose wages don’t go up as fast, will be feeling worse off.

“So this is not a period of people feeling better I’m afraid.”

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Analysis: How this budget was different

Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said “never has a chancellor asked the British people to pay so much for so little”, describing the budget as a “shocking missed opportunity by a government that is completely out of touch”.

“As he hits working people with the highest sustained tax burden in peacetime, he’s giving a tax cut to bankers who like to take short-haul flights while sipping Champagne,” she said.

“After taking £6bn out of the pockets of some of the poorest people in this country, he is expecting them to cheer today at being given £2bn to compensate.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who tested positive for COVID on Wednesday morning and therefore missed the budget, accused Mr Sunak of doing “nothing about the cost-of-living crisis”.

In the wake of the budget, the Office for Budget Responsibility said the overall tax burden was at its highest since the early 1950s, towards the end of Labour Prime Minister Clement Atlee’s time in Downing Street.

The chancellor acknowledged this in his budget speech, telling MPs: “I don’t like it, but I cannot apologise for it, it’s the result of the unprecedented crisis we faced and the extraordinary action we took in response.”

And in a bid to reassure Tory MPs, Mr Sunak added: “By the end of this parliament, I want taxes to be going down not up.”

The chancellor later addressed the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers – and it is understood he tried to further reassure them on this point, telling them that he wants to use “every marginal pound” in the future to cut taxes rather than increase spending.

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Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she is ‘totally’ up for the job of chancellor in first comments since tearful PMQs

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Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she is 'totally' up for the job of chancellor in first comments since tearful PMQs

The chancellor has said she was having a “tough day” yesterday in her first public comments since appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions – but insisted she is “totally” up for the job.

Rachel Reeves told broadcasters: “Clearly I was upset yesterday and everyone could see that. It was a personal issue and I’m not going to go into the details of that.

“My job as chancellor at 12 o’clock on a Wednesday is to be at PMQs next to the prime minister, supporting the government, and that’s what I tried to do.

“I guess the thing that maybe is a bit different between my job and many of your viewers’ is that when I’m having a tough day it’s on the telly and most people don’t have to deal with that.”

Politics latest: PM sets out 10-year NHS plan

She declined to give a reason behind the tears, saying “it was a personal issue” and “it wouldn’t be right” to divulge it.

“People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday. Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job,” she added.

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Ms Reeves also said she is “totally” up for the job of chancellor, saying: “This is the job that I’ve always wanted to do. I’m proud of what I’ve delivered as chancellor.”

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Reeves was seen wiping away tears during PMQs. Pic: PA

Asked if she was surprised that Sir Keir Starmer did not back her more strongly during PMQs, she reiterated that she and the prime minister are a “team”, saying: “We fought the election together, we changed the Labour Party together so that we could be in the position to return to power, and over the past year, we’ve worked in lockstep together.”

PM: ‘I was last to appreciate’ that Reeves was crying

The chancellor’s comments come after the prime minister told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby that he “didn’t appreciate” that she was crying behind him at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday because the weekly sessions are “pretty wild”, which is why he did not offer her any support while in the chamber.

He added: “It wasn’t just yesterday – no prime minister ever has had side conversations during PMQs. It does happen in other debates when there’s a bit more time, but in PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang. That’s what it was yesterday.

“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”

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Starmer explains to Beth Rigby his reaction to Reeves crying in PMQs

During PMQs, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch branded the chancellor the “human shield” for the prime minister’s “incompetence” just hours after he was forced to perform a humiliating U-turn over his controversial welfare bill, leaving a “black hole” in the public finances.

The prime minister’s watered-down Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill was backed by a majority of 75 in a tense vote on Tuesday evening – but a total of 49 Labour MPs voted against the bill, which was the largest rebellion in a prime minister’s first year in office since 47 MPs voted against Tony Blair’s lone parent benefit in 1997, according to Professor Phil Cowley from Queen Mary University.

Reeves looks transformed – but this has been a disastrous week for the PM

It is a Rachel Reeves transformed that appears in front of the cameras today, nearly 24 hours since one of the most extraordinary PMQs.

Was there a hint of nervousness as she started, aware of the world watching for any signs of human emotion? Was there a touch of feeling in her face as the crowds applauded her?

People will speculate. But Ms Reeves has got through her first public appearance, and can now, she hopes, move on.

The prime minister embraced her as he walked on stage, the health secretary talked her up: “Thanks to her leadership, we have seen wages rising faster than the cost of living.”

A show of solidarity at the top of government, a prime minister and chancellor trying to get on with business.

But be in no doubt today’s speech on a 10-year-plan for the NHS has been overshadowed. Not just by a chancellor in tears, but what that image represents.

A PM who, however assured he appeared today, has marked his first year this week, as Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby put to him, with a “self-inflicted shambles”.

She asked: “How have you got this so wrong? How can you rebuild trust? Are you just in denial?”

They are questions Starmer will be grappling with as he tries to move past a disastrous week.

Ms Reeves has borne a lot of the criticism over the handling of the vote, with some MPs believing that her strict approach to fiscal rules has meant she has approached the ballooning welfare bill from the standpoint of trying to make savings, rather than getting people into work.

Ms Badenoch also said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.

Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she will, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”

Downing Street scrambled to make clear to journalists that Ms Reeves was “going nowhere”, and the prime minister has since stated publicly that she will remain as chancellor “for many years to come”.

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Bitcoin Suisse legal chief flags gaps in EU, Swiss stablecoin rules

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Bitcoin Suisse legal chief flags gaps in EU, Swiss stablecoin rules

Bitcoin Suisse legal chief flags gaps in EU, Swiss stablecoin rules

Peter Märkl, general counsel at Bitcoin Suisse, criticized both EU and Swiss stablecoin regulations as inadequate and burdensome.

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Tether narrows USDC’s lead on BitPay payment transactions in 2025

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Tether narrows USDC’s lead on BitPay payment transactions in 2025

Tether narrows USDC’s lead on BitPay payment transactions in 2025

BitPay’s USDC stablecoin transactions accounted for almost double that of USDT in 2024, but the trend has shifted in favor of Tether this year.

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