Reeves sets out spending as Govt 'moves to a new phase'

RACHEL Reeves said "we are renewing Britain" as she set out how she plans to spend hundreds of billions of pounds of taxpayers' money.

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The Chancellor said total departmental budgets would grow by 2.3% a year in real terms and promised a "record cash investment" in the NHS, amounting to an extra £29 billion a year.

Setting out the spending review in the House of Commons, Ms Reeves said the tax hikes and looser borrowing rules allowed her to spend £190 billion more on the day-to-day running of public services and £113 billion on investment.

The review marks a watershed moment for the Government, almost a year after Labour’s election landslide.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told the Cabinet that the spending review “marks the end of the first phase of this Government, as we move to a new phase that delivers on the promise of change for working people all around the country and invests in Britain’s renewal”.

In a sign of the difficulties which face Sir Keir and the Chancellor, migrants continued to cross the English Channel in small boats on Wednesday.