Jeremy Hunt delays Halloween economic statement
Jeremy Hunt has delayed the announcement of the government’s economic plan from Halloween to 17 November, saying it will help ministers make “difficult decisions… that stand the test of time”.
A medium term fiscal statement was due to be delivered by the chancellor in the Commons on 31 October – along with a forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility – after Liz Truss’s tax slashing mini-budget last month left a blackhole in government finances and the markets in turmoil.
But it will now be put back by more than two weeks and be turned into a full autumn statement – expanding its remit and providing longer term plans.
Mr Hunt, who remains as chancellor in Rishi Sunak’s new cabinet, said he had made the recommendation to the new prime minister to ensure any decisions are based on “accurate economic forecasts”.
And he said he was “willing to make choices that are politically embarrassing if they’re the right thing to do for the country”.
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The chancellor also revealed the autumn statement would include measures to make debt fall “over the medium term”.
“Our number one priority is economic stability and restoring confidence that the United Kingdom is a country that pays its way,” said Mr Hunt.
“But it is also extremely important the statement is based on the most accurate possible economic forecasts and forecasts of public finances.”
The Bank of England is due to make an announcement on interest rates on 3 November, meaning the original government statement would have come ahead of the decision.
Asked if it was wise to change it now, Mr Hunt said Mr Sunak’s entrance to Number 10 meant there was “the prospect of much longer term stability for the economy in the country – and in that context, a short two and a half week delay is the best way we will make sure that it is the right decisions we take”.
Rishi Sunak kept Jeremy Hunt in post after he became prime minister on Tuesday.
The chancellor added: “There has been a lot of market turbulence even in the last 48 hours, and the question is how you deal with that turbulence to make sure that the very, very important, very difficult decisions that I and the prime minister have to make are the right ones – decisions that stand the test of time and do the right thing for people at home who are worried about their mortgages, their jobs, the cost of living, the bills and so on.
“And for that reason, accuracy in the forecasts both around public finances and economic growth is very important, and that’s why this is the right decision and a prudent decision.”
What’s in a name?
By calling the 17 November announcement an “autumn statement”, the Treasury is signalling that this is a bigger deal than the announcement originally envisaged, unattractively known as the medium term fiscal statement.
However, it is also still significant they are not calling it either a budget, with a full review of tax and spending measures, or a spending review, where every government department’s budgets are set for years to come.
The job of the statement is to identify the size of the black hole the government needs to fill, and how they are going to fill it. It will be accompanied by the Office for Budget Responsibility growth forecast.
Given the job it’s going to have to do, with some curbs to spending, it is likely to feel like a “spending review-lite”. However it could also include some tax measures, like a new system to cap the profits from renewable energy regeneration, as well as a decision about benefit uprating.
Ultimately titles don’t matter in times of crisis – Liz Truss labelled her September statement a “mini budget”, yet this was the biggest set of spending announcements in one day every seen in modern times.
But Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney said the delay “risks leaving mortgage borrowers, pensioners and struggling families under a damaging cloud of uncertainty”.
She called on the PM to confirm benefits and pensions will be up-rated in line with inflation, and that there will be no cuts to public services, including the NHS.
“Sunak was installed by Conservative MPs into Number 10 without anyone voting for him, and without telling anyone about his plans for the country,” she said.
“The public deserve to know immediately what lies in store, and that they will not be made to pay for the Conservative Party trashing our economy.”
How did we get here?
Ms Truss came to power in September off the back of a summer of campaigning for lower taxes and higher growth.
A mini-budget by her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng spooked the markets, leading to the pound plunging, mortgages being withdrawn, and the Bank of England being forced to intervene.
Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng announced huge plans based on government borrowing that sent the markets into a spin.
He was replaced by Mr Hunt and within three days had reversed nearly all of the policies.
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Ms Truss resigned in the same week, and has now been replaced by Mr Sunak, who promised on the steps of Downing Street that “economic stability and confidence [would be] at the heart of this government’s agenda”.
There were hints the statement could be delayed on Wednesday when Foreign Secretary James Cleverly could not confirm the date to Sky News.
And later that morning, a Treasury source told our political editor Beth Rigby that it was “very possible”.
Thousands of troops are taking part in a joint military exercise between Russia and Belarus, as tensions with the EU run high following a Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace earlier this week.
The Zapad joint military exercise which began on Friday will involve drills in both Russia and Belarus as well as in the Baltic and Barents seas, the Russian defence ministry said.
Belarusian defence officials initially said about 13,000 troops would participate in the drill, but in May, its defence ministry said that would be cut nearly in half.
It comes just two days after Poland, with support from its NATO allies, shot down Russian drones over its airspace.
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Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday morning hit back at a suggestion by US President Donald Trump on Thursday that the incursion may have been a “mistake”.
He said in a post on X: “We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn’t. And we know it.”
Russia said its forces had been attacking Ukraine at the time of the incursions and that it had not intended to hit any targets in Poland.
Friday also saw Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper travelling to Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv on the same day the UK announced fresh sanctions against Moscow.
Prince Harry was also in Kyiv for a surprise visit to help with the recovery of military personnel seriously injured in the three-year war with Russia.
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Prince Harry arrives in Kyiv
Ms Cooper, who was appointed foreign secretary last week, posted about her visit on X saying: “The UK’s support for Ukraine is steadfast. I am pleased to be in Kyiv on my first visit as Foreign Secretary.”
The UK’s new sanctions include bans on 70 vessels that Britain says are part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that transports Russian oil in defiance of sanctions already in place.
Yvette Cooper with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Pic: Valentyn Ogirenko/PA
Some 30 individuals and companies – including Chinese and Turkey-based firms – have also been sanctioned for their part in supplying Russia with electronics, chemicals, explosives and other weapons components.
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Meanwhile on the frontline, Ukrainian drones struck Russia’s oil-loading Primorsk port overnight, an SBU official said.
The attack caused fires and suspended oil-loading operations, the official added.
Russian defence systems also intercepted and destroyed 221 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Prince Harry has made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, a spokesperson for the royal has said.
Harry, who served 10 years in the British Army, visited the city at the invitation of the Ukrainian government.
The Duke of Sussex travelled to the capital to help with the recovery of military personnel seriously injured in the three-year war with Russia.
Pic: Railway of Ukraine Ukrzaliznytsia/AP
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will also be travelling to Kyiv on Friday in what will be her first foreign trip since being appointed to the job last week.
Her visit coincides with the UK launching a new package of Russia-related sanctions targeting ships carrying Russian oil as well as companies and individuals supplying electronics, chemicals and explosives used to make Russian weapons.
It comes as Russia and Belarus began a major joint military exercise on on NATO’s doorstep on Friday, just two days after Poland, with support from its NATO allies, shot down suspected Russian drones over its airspace.
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Drones shot down in Poland
The Zapad-2025 exercise – a show of force by Russia and its close ally – will involve drills in both countries and in the Baltic and Barents seas, the Russian defence ministry said.
Meanwhile on the frontline, Russian defence systems intercepted and destroyed 221 Ukrainian drones overnight,
including nine over the Moscow region, the ministry said on Friday.
The duke told the Guardian while on an overnight train to Kyiv: “We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process.
“We can continue to humanise the people involved in this war and what they are going through.
“We have to keep it in the forefront of people’s minds. I hope this trip will help to bring it home to people because it’s easy to become desensitised to what has been going on.”
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Harry, who served two tours in Afghanistan, previously travelled to Ukraine in April, when he visited war victims as part of his work with wounded veterans.
The prince visited the Superhumans Center, an orthopaedic clinic in Lviv that treats and rehabilitates wounded military personnel and civilians.
Earlier this week, Harry said the King is “great” after he reunited with him at Clarence House for a private tea.
It was their first meeting in 19 months and lasted just 54 minutes.
The last time the father and son saw each other was in February 2024 when the prince flew to the UK after the monarch announced his cancer diagnosis.
Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have lived in California since they quit roles as senior working royals in March 2020.
Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for attempting a coup to stay in power after his 2022 election defeat.
The far-right politician, who ruled Brazil between 2019 and 2022, is currently under house arrest in the capital, Brasilia.
A panel of five Supreme Court justices handed down the sentence several hours after they found the 70-year-old guilty on five counts.
The counts were trying to stage a coup, being part of an armed criminal organisation, attempting violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, being implicated in violence, and posing a serious threat to the state’s assets and listed heritage.
Bolsonaro‘s lawyers have said they will appeal the verdict.
Pic: AP
The ruling will deepen political divisions in Brazil and is also likely to prompt a backlash from the United States government – with Donald Trump already sharing his thoughts on the vote.
President Trump, an ally of Bolsonaro, has said he was surprised and “very unhappy” with the decision.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, he said he always found Bolsonaro “outstanding” and said the conviction is “very bad for Brazil”.
Mr Trump previously called the case a “witch hunt”, slapped Brazil with tariff hikes, and revoked US visas for most members of Brazil’s high court.
Bolsonaro is the first former Brazilian president to be convicted of attempting a coup.
He has not attended the court proceedings, and on Thursday, he was seen at the garage of his property, but did not talk to the media.
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Justice Carmen Lucia. Pic: AP
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has been overseeing the case, said on Tuesday that Bolsonaro was the leader of a coup plot and of a criminal organisation, and voted in favour of convicting him. Justices Flavio Dino, Carmen Lucia, and Cristiano Zanin sided with Justice Moraes in the trial.
On Wednesday, another justice, Luiz Fux, disagreed and voted to acquit the ex-president of all charges.
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Justice Lucia said she was convinced by the evidence the attorney general’s office put forward against Bolsonaro, saying: “He is the instigator, the leader of an organisation that orchestrated every possible move to maintain or seize power.”
Bolsonaro had been previously banned from running for office until 2030 in a different case.
He is expected to choose an heir who is likely to challenge President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva next year.
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