UK public finances show £22bn fiscal hole, says Rachel Reeves

The chancellor has unveiled plans to scrap winter fuel payments for pensioners not on benefits as part of sweeping changes she said were needed to fill a £22bn spending shortfall that was ‘covered up’ by the Conservative government.

Justifying the planned cuts, Rachel Reeves told the Commons: ‘Not to act is simply not an option.’ Announcing 30 October as the date of the autumn budget, she added that it would ‘involve taking difficult decisions to meet our fiscal rules across spending, welfare and tax’, paving the way for probable tax increases

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Reeves scraps social care cap and some winter fuel payments to plug ‘£22bn hole’