{"id":57700,"date":"2026-02-24T14:42:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T14:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/?p=57700"},"modified":"2026-02-24T14:42:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T14:42:46","slug":"test-live-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/test-live-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Test Live Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Edited by James Cain (Politics Specialist) and Tom Preston (Business Specialist)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>15:00 &#8211; End of live coverage<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will be pausing 360Wire&#8217;s live coverage here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks for following along with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more reaction to the Budget, check out our website and social media pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>14:30 &#8211; West Yorkshire mayor responds to Budget<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/MayorOfWY\/status\/1993679052704776395\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:57 &#8211; Badenoch: Budget is &#8220;Nightmare Before Christmas&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Summing up her thoughts on this Budget, Kemi Badenoch said: &#8220;Last year was the Horrors of Halloween budget, and this year it&#8217;s the Nightmare Before Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:54 &#8211; Leader of Opposition warns of business exodus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Badenoch has claimed unemployment is up every month since Labour has been in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She also said newspapers have reported that 1 in 8 business leaders are planning to leave Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:50 &#8211; Tory leader criticises tax rises<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Leader of the Opposition questions why the government have decided to increase taxes instead of decreasing welfare spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She said: \u201cThe real story here is Labour have lost control of welfare spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She also noted that another \u00a33 billion has been added to the spending bill by scrapping the two-child benefit cap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:49 &#8211; Badenoch: Chancellor is &#8216;utterly incompetent&#8217;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kemi Badenoch responded to Reeves&#8217; comments regarding the &#8216;mansplaining&#8217; she has faced during her political career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;They aren\u2019t complaining because she\u2019s female, they\u2019re complaining because she is utterly incompetent.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She also called the Budget Speech an &#8220;exercise in self-delusion&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:43 &#8211; Badenoch begins response<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, has begun delivering her response to Rachel Reeves&#8217; Budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/360wire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2025\/11\/Kemi_Badenoch_2024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4751\" style=\"width:514px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Credit: WTO\/Prime Vision<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:35 &#8211; Minimum wage increased<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>National Minimum Wage for 18-20 year olds will be increased from \u00a310 to \u00a310.85 per hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Living wage will also be increased from \u00a312.21 to \u00a312.71 per hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:31 &#8211; &#8216;Rape clause&#8217; to be removed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The so-called &#8216;rape clause&#8217; will be removed as part of the abolition of the two-child benefit cap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It allowed mothers to claim Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit for a third or subsequent child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The women had to prove the child was conceived as a result of rape or a controlling and coercive relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:30 &#8211; Two-child benefit cap abolition confirmed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reeves has confirmed that the two-child benefit cap will be lifted in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She says &#8220;it is the kids who have been punished&#8221; by the policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was first introduced by the Coalition government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:27 &#8211; Gambling taxes increased<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reeves will be increasing remote gaming duty from 21% to 40%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Online betting levies will rise from 15% to 25%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There will be no change to in-person or horse-racing levies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She says it will raise \u00a31billion by 2031.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/360wire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2025\/11\/roulette.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4750\" style=\"width:734px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Credit: Ralf Roletschek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:25 &#8211; Vaping levy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There will be an uprate in existing alcohol and tobacco levies, alongside the introduction of a new vaping levy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alcohol duty will rise in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation rate, which was 4.5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tobacco duty will be raised by RPI plus 2% annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A new Vaping Products Duty will be a flat rate of \u00a32.20 per 10ml.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:24 &#8211; New electric car excise duty<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A new electric vehicle excise duty will be implemented, the Chancellor announces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It will cost 3p per mile, and 1.5p per mile for plug-in hybrids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An extra \u00a3200million will help with the rollout of electric charging points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a31.3bn additional funding will also be provided for electric car grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:21 &#8211; Lower tax rates for retail and leisure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Permanent lower tax rates have been announced for 750,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This will be paid for by higher rates by on properties worth \u00a3500,000 or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:16 &#8211; New &#8216;mansion tax&#8217;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A new tax will be introduced on large houses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It will consist of \u00a32,500 for properties worth more than \u00a32million, and \u00a37,500 for properties worth more than \u00a35million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This will be collected alongside the existing council tax rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reeves says it will raise over \u00a34.1million by 2031.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/360wire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2025\/11\/woodchester-mansion.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4749\" style=\"width:734px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Credit: Philip Halling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:15 &#8211; Student loan repayment frozen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The government will keep student loan repayments at 2026 levels for 3 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:13 &#8211; Tax thresholds will not be raised<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All income tax, National Insurance and VAT rates contributions will be frozen for 3 years, until 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means Reeves won&#8217;t break Labour&#8217;s manifesto pledges from last year, which had been hinted at in previous weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:10 &#8211; Free apprenticeships for under-25s<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Chancellor has announced funding to make under-25 apprenticeships free for all small- to medium-sized businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:08 &#8211; Covid contract money <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The government has managed to recover almost \u00a3400m from &#8216;dodgy&#8217; pandemic spending and Covid contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13:06 &#8211; Healthcare investment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The government will invest \u00a3300million into technology to cut NHS waiting times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13: 01 &#8211; Chancellor addresses investment into schools across the country<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Chancellor says she wants to see schools across the country have access to libraries, as well as announcing an investment of \u00a318m set aside to improve playgrounds and other community services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12:58 &#8211; Financial debt reaches \u00a32.6tr<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The net financial debt this year is \u00a32.6trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This amounts to 83% of the country&#8217;s GDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12:50 &#8211; Spending on Sheffield Forgemasters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Chancellor announces investment into Sheffield&#8217;s Forgemasters as part of investment into steelworks across  the North.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/360wire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2025\/11\/forgemasters.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4748\" style=\"width:734px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Credit: Allan Murray-Rust<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12:44 &#8211; Changes to cash ISAs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Chancellor has announced changes to Cash ISA saving accounts, which previously allowed payments of up to \u00a320,000 a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The changes will cap this amount at \u00a312,000 for under 65s, with the remaining \u00a38000 pounds of this amount reserved purely for investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12:38 &#8211;<\/strong> <strong>Chancellor acknowledges OBR&#8217;s early release <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Chancellor began the Budget Statement by acknowledging the early release of the OBR report, calling it &#8220;deeply disappointing&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She adds that OBR have taken full responsibility for the accidental release of the report, which isn&#8217;t supposed to be seen until the start of the Budget Speech before the Commons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12:36 &#8211; Reeves now delivering Budget Statement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chancellor Rachel Reeves is now addressing the Commons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12:34 &#8211; Deputy Speaker makes statement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, Musrat Ghani, is now speaking about the OBR&#8217;s forecast leak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She called leaking information to the media a &#8216;disappointing trend&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This all falls shorts of standards that the House expects.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She also told off several MPs for being too rowdy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12:30 &#8211; Reeves about to speak in Commons<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chancellor Rachel Reeves is about to deliver her Budget Statement to MPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12:27 &#8211; Two-child benefit cap to be lifted<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The OBR also says that the two-child benefit cap will be lifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This will cost an estimated \u00a33bn by 2029-30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12:25 &#8211; OBR: Budget will raise taxes by \u00a326bn by 2029-30<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The OBR forecast &#8211; which was released early by mistake &#8211; says the proposed tax rises will raise up to \u00a326billion by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also expect inflation to reach 3.5% for this year &#8211; slightly higher than the forecaster estimated in March, when it predicted a 3.2%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12:05 &#8211; Lower growth forecast than predicted<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a forecast this morning, the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) says: &#8220;GDP is forecast to grow by 1.5 per cent on average over the forecast, 0.3 percentage points slower than we projected in March.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-default\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12:00 &#8211; Welcome to our live page<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Welcome to 360Wire&#8217;s live coverage of today&#8217;s Autumn Budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chancellor Rachel Reeves will be setting out her spending plans to MPs just after PMQs &#8211; we&#8217;ll bring you updates as they come in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Edited by James Cain (Politics Specialist) and Tom Preston (Business Specialist) 15:00 &#8211; End of live coverage We will be pausing 360Wire&#8217;s live coverage here. Thanks for following along with us. For more reaction to the Budget, check out our website and social media pages. 14:30 &#8211; West Yorkshire mayor responds to Budget 13:57 &#8211; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":255,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1098],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/255"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57700"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57701,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57700\/revisions\/57701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}