Budget 2025 live: Rachel Reeves says tax and spending changes based on ‘fair and necessary’ choices

Chancellor to deliver fiscal statement, billed as decisive moment for fate of Starmer government, at 12.30pmTax, pensions, savings: what to expect in the budgetReeves’s high-stakes budget in five key chartsCould you do better than Reeves? Play our gamePaul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, has rejected the concerns raised by the Resolution Foundation (see 9.54am) about the rise in the minimum wage rates. Asked about the thinktank’s comments, Nowak told Times Radio:I don’t accept those concerns …First of all, that recommendation is based on the Low Pay Commission, which brings together employers, unions, independent experts, they’re tasked with making a recommendation on the minimum wage, which balances getting money into people’s pockets and the impact on unemployment. Continue reading…