Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer signals tax rises coming as he warns of ‘painful’ budget
The October budget will be “painful”, Sir Keir Starmer has said, giving the biggest hint yet of tax rises.
Speaking from Downing Street, the prime minister said: “I will be honest with you, there is a budget coming in October and it’s going to be painful.”
He added: “Just as when I responded to the riots, I’ll have to turn to the country and make big asks of you to accept short-term pain for long-term good. The difficult trade-off for the genuine solution.”
Politics latest: Reaction as Starmer gives major speech
The budget is set to be held on 30 October.
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‘Things will get worse before they get better’
Sir Keir said “those with the broadest shoulders should bear the heavier burden” and “those who made the mess should have to do their bit to clean it up”.
The first group he linked to the scrapping of the non-dom tax status, and the latter to water companies paying fines.
The Conservatives have accused the prime minister of a “betrayal” of people’s trust after he promised not to raise taxes.
Tory leader and former prime minister Rishi Sunak posted on social media: “Keir Starmer’s speech today was the clearest indication of what Labour has been planning to do all along – raise your taxes.”
The prime minister referenced the “£22bn black hole” in the nation’s finances, that he said the Office for Budget Responsibility did not know about – as he took aim at the last government.
“I said change would not happen overnight,” Sir Keir said. “When there is a deep rot at the heart of a structure, you can’t just cover it up… you have to overhaul the entire thing, tackle it at root. Even if it’s hard work or takes more time.”
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Which taxes could Labour rise
Government borrowing highest since pandemic
Speaking about riots towards the end of July into the start of this month following the Southport stabbing attack which left three young girls dead – the prime minister hit out at a “minority of thugs that thought they could get away with causing chaos”.
Asked by Sky News political editor Beth Rigby which specific tax rises are being considered, Sir Keir reiterated that taxes on “working people” – like income tax, VAT and national insurance – will not go up.
He added: “We have to get away from this idea that the only levers that can be pulled are more taxes, or more spending.
“Our number one mission is to grow the economy.”
The prime minister was speaking from the rose garden at Downing Street – previously used by Boris Johnson’s adviser Dominic Cummings after he broke COVID lockdown rules, and also where gatherings took place during partygate.
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Dominic Cummings in the Downing Street rose garden in 2020. Pic: PA
This appeared to be a deliberate choice, as Sir Keir said: “This is a government for you, a garden and a building that were once used for lockdown parties.
“Remember the pictures? Just over there? With the wine and the food. Well, this garden and this building are now back in your service.”
Sir Keir has repeatedly blamed the previous government and said it is influencing his decision-making.
This includes the means testing of the winter fuel payments for pensioners.
‘Betrayal of people’s trust
The government’s claims of a £22bn “black hole” left by the Tories have been questioned following substantial pay awards to unions – including to both junior doctors and train drivers.
Sir Keir said he “didn’t want to means test the winter fuel payment”, but it was a choice that needed to be made to “protect the most vulnerable pensioners”.
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Laura Trott, the Conservatives’ shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: “The government are no longer promising to protect working people from their incoming tax raid because just like pensioners, working families are next in line for Labour’s tax hikes.
“After promising over 50 times in the election not to raise taxes on working people Labour are now rolling the pitch to break even more promises.
“The chancellor is entitled to raise taxes to pay for her expensive choices and above inflation pay rises demanded by her union paymasters, but she should have had the courage to be honest from the start.
“This a betrayal of people’s trust and we will hold them to account for their actions.”
A hostile environment era deportation policy for criminals is being expanded by the Labour government as it continues its migration crackdown.
The government wants to go further in extraditing foreign offenders before they have a chance to appeal by including more countries in the existing scheme.
Offenders that have a human right appeal rejected will get offshored, and further appeals will then get heard from abroad.
It follows the government announcing on Saturday that it wants to deport criminals as soon as they are sentenced.
The “deport now, appeal later” policy was first introduced when Baroness Theresa May was home secretary in 2014 as part of the Conservative government’s hostile environment policy to try and reduce migration.
It saw hundreds of people returned to a handful of countries like Kenya and Jamaica under Section 94B of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, added in via amendment.
In 2017, a Supreme Court effectively stopped the policy from being used after it was challenged on the grounds that appealing from abroad was not compliant with human rights.
However, in 2023, then home secretary Suella Braverman announced she was restarting the policy after providing more facilities abroad for people to lodge their appeals.
Now, the current government says it is expanding the partnership from eight countries to 23.
Previously, offenders were being returned to Finland, Nigeria, Estonia, Albania, Belize, Mauritius, Tanzania and Kosovo for remote hearings.
Angola, Australia, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Uganda and Zambia are the countries being added – with the government wanting to include more.
Read more:
Govt vows to deport foreign criminals immediately
First migrants detained under returns deal with France
Theresa May’s hostile environment policy proved controversial. Pic: PA
The Home Office claims this is the “the government’s latest tool in its comprehensive approach to scaling up our ability to remove foreign criminals”, touting 5,200 removals of foreign offenders since July 2024 – an increase of 14% compared with the year before.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Those who commit crimes in our country cannot be allowed to manipulate the system, which is why we are restoring control and sending a clear message that our laws must be respected and will be enforced.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “We are leading diplomatic efforts to increase the number of countries where foreign criminals can be swiftly returned, and if they want to appeal, they can do so safely from their home country.
“Under this scheme, we’re investing in international partnerships that uphold our security and make our streets safer.”
Both ministers opposed the hostile environment policy when in opposition.
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In 2015, Sir Keir Starmer had questioned whether such a policy was workable – saying in-person appeals were the norm for 200 years and had been a “highly effective way of resolving differences”.
He also raised concerns about the impact on children if parents were deported and then returned after a successful appeal.
In today’s announcement, the prime minister’s administration said it wanted to prevent people from “gaming the system” and clamp down on people staying in the UK for “months or years” while appeals are heard.
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