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.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘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.”
Read more:
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.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
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”.
👉 Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts 👈
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.”
Crypto-friendly billionaire investor Bill Ackman is considering the possibility that US President Donald Trump may pause the implementation of his controversial proposed tariffs on April 7.
“One would have to imagine that President Donald Trump’s phone has been ringing off the hook. The practical reality is that there is insufficient time for him to make deals before the tariffs are scheduled to take effect,” Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, said in an April 5 X post.
Trump may postpone tariffs to make more deals, says Ackman
“I would, therefore, not be surprised to wake up Monday with an announcement from the President that he was postponing the implementation of the tariffs to give him time to make deals,” Ackman added.
On April 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries, which took effect on April 5. Harsher reciprocal tariffs on trading partners with which the US has the largest trade deficits are scheduled to kick in on April 9.
Ackman — who famously said “crypto is here to stay” after the FTX collapse in November 2022 — said Trump captured the attention of the world and US trading partners, backing the tariffs as necessary after what he called an “unfair tariff regime” that hurt US workers and economy “over many decades.”
Following Trump’s announcement on April 2, the US stock market shed more value during the April 4 trading session than the entire crypto market is currently worth. The fact that crypto held up better than the US stock market caught the attention of both crypto industry supporters and skeptics.
Source: Cameron Winklevoss
Prominent crypto voices such as BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes and Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss also recently showed their support for Trump’s tariffs.
Related: Trump tariffs squeeze already struggling Bitcoin miners — Braiins exec
Ackman said a pause would be a logical move by Trump — not just to allow time for closing potential deals but also to give companies of all sizes “time to prepare for changes.” He added:
“The risk of not doing so is that the massive increase in uncertainty drives the economy into a recession, potentially a severe one.”
Ackman said April 7 will be “one of the more interesting days” in US economic history.
Magazine: New ‘MemeStrategy’ Bitcoin firm by 9GAG, jailed CEO’s $3.5M bonus: Asia Express
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency.
The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies.
While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past.
According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975.
Source: Web.archive.org
Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership.
The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January.
Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland. Source: Cointelegraph
Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system.
Related: Bitcoin at 16: From experiment to trillion-dollar asset
Nakamoto’s legacy: a “cornerstone of economic sovereignty”
“At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert.
“Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding:
“What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.”
However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said.
Related: Bitcoin’s next catalyst: End of $36T US debt ceiling suspension
Is Satoshi Nakamoto wealthier than Bill Gates?
In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan.
Satoshi’s new addresses. Source: Conor Grogan
If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person.
Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day.
Magazine: 10 crypto theories that missed as badly as ‘Peter Todd is Satoshi’
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway