RACHEL Reeves has handed the armed forces a £3billion boost in the Labour Government’s first Budget.
The Chancellor announced an increase in the defence budget for next year in her fiscal statement in the Commons.
Rachel Reeves has handed the armed forces a £3billion boost[/caption]
Part of the extra cash will be used to give soldiers a pay rise of 6 per cent backdated to April, The Telegraph reported.
The funding will also be used to buy weapons with the aim of replenishing stockpiles depleted by donations to Ukraine.
A pathway to increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of national economic output demanded by the Tories was not be in the Budget.
It is understood the injection will be a one-off and won’t tackle all of the military’s funding challenges.
Ms Reeves made history as the UK’s first female Chancellor when she delivered Wednesday’s Budget.
In her speech she said the “prize on offer” is “immense”.
She laid out new funding to cut hospital waiting lists, pave the way for more affordable homes and rebuild crumbling schools.
Ms Reeves added: “More pounds in people’s pockets. An NHS that is there when you need it.
“An economy that is growing, creating wealth and opportunity for all.
“Because that is the only way to improve living standards.”
Harking back to the Labour governments of Attlee, Wilson and Blair, Ms Reeves said it is “not the first time that it has fallen to the Labour Party to rebuild Britain”.
The Chancellor warned that the tax hikes and borrowing increases she is considering may not be enough to undo “14 years of damage” to the NHS, despite plans to pump billions of pounds into the health service.
WATCH RACHEL REEVES ON NEVER MIND THE BALLOTS
By Ryan Sabey, Deputy Political Editor
RACHEL Reeves will be grilled in a special Budget edition of The Sun’s Never Mind The Ballots show today.
Our Political Editor Harry Cole will put the Chancellor on the spot shortly after she’s finished delivering her crucial address in the House of Commons.
It will be available to watch on thesun.co.uk, YouTube and Sun social channels at 5.30pm.
Topics will include her decision on whether to spare motorists a fuel duty rise, and the expected eye-watering tax rises she will impose.
Since its launch earlier this year, NMTB has cemented its place at the heart of British politics.
During the General Election campaign The Sun was the only print publisher to host back-to-back grillings of Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer.
Footage from The Election Showdown has been viewed over 15 million times.
NMTB has also featured interviews with ex-PMs Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, as well as senior politicians Nigel Farage, James Cleverly, Wes Streeting, Steve Reed and Bridget Phillipson
Alongside its Budget analysis, fiscal watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will publish a report on the Conservatives’ legacy in government.
It is expected to account for the so-called £22billion “black hole” in the public finances.
Shadow chancellor Jeremy Hunt is contesting the report, claiming in a letter to top civil servant Simon Case that the OBR risks “straying into political territory and failing to follow due process”.
