Budget bonanza: tax highs and growth lows
Political Fix
Financial Times
4.2 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 28 November 2025
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After months of speculation, predictions and U-turns, Rachel Reeves finally announced her Budget this week. And, symptomatic of the chaos this Budget has wrought, there was one final twist: the entire Budget appeared on the Office for Budget Responsibility's website 45 minutes before the chancellor was set to give her speech. It sent the media and the markets into a spin…the key takeaway: a historic tax rise achieved without officially breaking the government’s manifesto promise. So what are the crucial implications of this Budget? Who are the winners and losers? And what is the political fallout for Labour?
Host George Parker is joined by economics editor Sam Fleming, markets columnist Katie Martin and politics columnist Stephen Bush to break down this long-awaited Budget.
Follow George on Bluesky or X: @georgewparker.bsky.social, @GeorgeWParker; Stephen @stephenkb.bsky.social, @stephenkb; and Katie @katie0martin.ft.com
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Want more? Free links:
Rachel Reeves’ Budget raises UK taxes to all-time high
‘Spend now, pay later’: Rachel Reeves’ Budget delays the fiscal pain
Reeves’ Budget fails her own 3 claims
The four audiences Reeves’ ‘high-wire’ Budget must satisfy
If you want to find out what the budget means for your personal finance, check out a special episode of the FT's Money Clinic podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.
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Political Fix is presented by George Parker, and produced by Lulu Smyth. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Original music and mix by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Budget. Budget. Budget. We've had weeks. Well, no months. Budget. Budget. Budget. Budget. |
| 0:08.0 | Of pre-budget predictions and speculation. This is no ordinary budget. |
| 0:12.7 | Forecasts on what might happen in the budget. |
| 0:14.9 | Anyone with money is waiting to find out what Rachel Reeves is going to do in her budget. |
| 0:20.0 | There were the hints and the rumours. |
| 0:21.5 | In a rare pre-budget speech, the Chancellor refuses to rule out tax rises in the upcoming budget. |
| 0:27.9 | And then, of course, the U-turns. |
| 0:29.9 | The government has backed off. |
| 0:31.8 | And ministers say income tax won't rise after all. |
| 0:35.9 | But when Rachel Reeves's big moments to deliver her budget finally arrived, |
| 0:39.8 | there was one last chaotic twist. |
| 0:42.4 | And just a moment ago, |
| 0:44.1 | it seems the OBR analysis has appeared online. |
| 0:47.3 | This awful short of standards that the House expects. |
| 0:51.3 | The Office for Budget Responsibilities' accidental leak was the last turn in this long |
| 0:56.8 | trailed tale. Symptomatic of the bedlam this budget has wrought from the very beginning. So what's |
| 1:02.9 | actually in it and what will the implications be? Welcome to Political Fix with me, George Parker. |
| 1:10.0 | Here to help me break this budget down. |
| 1:11.8 | I have the FTs economics editor and smorgasbord connoisseur, Sam Fleming. |
| 1:16.7 | Hi, Sam. |
| 1:17.3 | Hi, George. |
| 1:18.1 | Politics columnist and writer of the Inside Politics Newsletter, Stephen Bush. |
... |
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