Budget reiterates Labour's promise to fight crime

The Chancellor has delivered Labour’s first budget in 14 years.

Rachel Reeves has promised to rebuild Britain and fix the economy.

The Budget aims to fix the NHS and rebuild Britain, while at the same time, ensuring that working people don’t pay higher taxes from their payslips.

The Chancellor set out the finance picture, with “£22 billion of unfunded in-year spending pressures, debt at its highest since the 1960s, unrealistic plans for departmental spending, and stagnating living standards.”

It is hoped that the plans outlined in the budget will boost public investment by over £100 billion over the next five years.

As promised there is no increase in National Insurance, VAT, or Income Tax on working people.

The budget commits to increasing day-to-day spending for public services by 3.3 per cent on average in real terms over this year, with a particular focus on the NHS, education and criminal justice.

There is also a crackdown on wasteful spending, with all government departments having a 2 per cent productivity, efficiency, and savings target.

One areas of focus is crime and justice. The new Border Security Command is set up to fight organised criminal gangs by deploying 100 new NCA officers and increasing cooperation with European intelligence agencies and police forces.

There are also plans to boost the processing of asylum claims, which along with other measures could cut asylum support costs by more than £4 billion over the next two years.

There is also mention of an initial commitment to boost visible neighbourhood policing with 13,000 more neighbourhood officers and PCSOs.