£240m in Budget for local services to help people back into work, Starmer says

Rachel Reeves will deliver her first Budget on Wednesday, as the Government tries to bridge what it has called the £22 billion “black hole” in the public finances.

Addressing an audience in Birmingham on Monday, the Prime Minister said the UK is “the only G7 country for whom economic inactivity is still higher than it was before Covid”.

“That’s not just bad for our economy,” he said.

“It’s also bad for all those who are locked out of opportunity.

“So the Chancellor will announce £240 million in funding to provide local services that can help people back into work.”

The Prime Minister also set out his approach to a Budget for “working people”.

Ministers have been facing repeated questions over the Government’s definition of “working people”, after Labour’s election manifesto pledged not to increase taxes on working people – explicitly ruling out a rise in VAT, national insurance and income tax.

They have come under pressure to spell out precisely who would and would not fall under this definition, given the extent of expected tax rises due to be announced this week.

Sir Keir told the audience in Birmingham: “Trust in my project to return Britain to the service of working people can only be earned through actions, not words.

“Change must be felt.

“But every decision that we have made, every decision that we will make in the future, will be made with working people in our mind’s eye, people who have been working harder and harder for years just to stand still.

“People doing the right thing, maybe still finding a little bit of money to put away, paying their way, even in the cost-of-living crisis.

“But who feel that this country no longer gives them or all their children a fair chance.

“People stuck on an NHS waiting list, whose town centre is blighted by antisocial behaviour, who can’t afford to buy a place that they can call home, or can’t afford the home they have because of the mortgage bombshell.”