Budget news live: Latest updates as national living wage to rise
Rishi Sunak admits £7bn transport pledge only £1.5bn of new money
The UK’s national living wage is to increase from £8.91 to £9.50 in this week’s Budget, the Treasury has confirmed, with Conservatives claiming full-time workers will earn an extra £1,000-a-year as a result.
Previously known as the national minimum wage, the change will apply to workers aged 23 and over, with a lower rate in place for younger workers.
Ministers have already pledged to raise the adult rate to two thirds of median earnings by the end of the Parliament – around £10.40 – with Labour saying it wants a minimum wage of at least £10.
But the wage rise comes at the same time as the government increases national insurance contributions for low earners and cuts universal credit (UC) payments. “This is a good thing to be applauded,” tweeted left-wing commentator Owen Jones, “but it’s offset by a cut in UC that leaves many low-paid workers in poverty.”
Elsewhere, Sajid Javid, the health secretary, admitted it is “impossible to know” whether the NHS backlog will be cleared within three years, despite the Treasury pledging £6bn to help solve the problem as part of Rishi Sunak’s autumn Budget.
Follow our live coverage below
Cop26 president says he understands ‘deep frustration’ at climate finance failures
Cop26 president Alok Sharma has said it is understandable that developing countries feel “deep frustration” over the failure by wealthier countries to reach a $100bn (£72bn) a year funding target to tackle climate change.
A report published on Monday found that wealthy nations would not deliver the long-promised $100bn a year in climate finance for poor countries until 2023, three years late.
The pledge, which was first made in 2009, has become a key commitment for international climate action to support countries which have done the least to contribute to the crisis but are most vulnerable to its impacts.
You can find Mr Sharma’s comments in full below:
Conrad Duncan25 October 2021 14:42
Sturgeon warns world leaders of ‘entirely justified anger’ over climate progress
Nicola Sturgeon has warned that Cop26 needs to see “significant uplift” in the pledges to cut carbon emissions as world leaders must recognise growing levels of anger at the inaction over climate change.
Speaking to an audience of students and young people in Glasgow, Ms Sturgeon called on leaders to take “credible action” to achieve net zero.
Our environment correspondent, Harry Cockburn, has the full story below:
Conrad Duncan25 October 2021 14:23
Workers will be ‘bitterly disappointed’ with impact of pay rise, Lib Dems say
Workers will be “bitterly disappointed” when they see “almost half of any rise [in income] snatched away by the Treasury before it even reaches their bank accounts”, the Liberal Democrats have said.
“Instead of a fair deal, families across the country are facing a Budget nightmare with a soaring rise to the cost of living paired with tax hikes left, right and centre,” Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Christine Jardine said in a statement.
Earlier this year, Rishi…
Read More: Budget news live: Latest updates as national living wage to rise