Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey, has pledged £10 billion in additional economic and military support for Ukraine, outlined plans to increase UK defence spending and promised reforms to reduce welfare expenditure.
Delivering his first budget statement to the House of Commons, John Healey announced the support package, including £500 million in urgent military funding for Ukraine this winter, as he defended Labour’s record on defence and accused successive Conservative governments of leaving the military underfunded.
He linked the announcement to his discussions with Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, following another Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv.
“The week in Kyiv started with Russia launching another brutal ballistic missile attack on the city, and this morning, the Prime Minister and I called President Zelenskyy to tell him about our commitments in the Budget today. He told us You’ve made my day.”
Chancellor John Healey
“The whole house, the whole country, is united for Ukraine. Today we send a clear message to Moscow: Britain will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” he added.
Defence Spending Plans Deferred Until Next Year
Despite announcing the additional support for Ukraine, the Chancellor of the Exchequer faced questions over the timing of the government’s plans to increase domestic defence spending.
The Chancellor criticised the Conservatives’ 14 years in government, accusing them of weakening the armed forces through inadequate funding.
“I am proud to be part of a Labour government that has made the biggest increase in Defence Spending since the end of the Cold War.”
Chancellor John Healey
John Healey added that UK’s defence budget was £14 billion higher than in the Conservatives’ final year in office.
He also highlighted the personal importance of equipping the armed forces, noting, “I say this as chancellor, as a former defence secretary, and as a dad whose son is an Army reservist, who four years ago came back from training to say they had no kit or bullets to fire.”
However, the Chancellor disclosed that, “at the Spending Review next year, I confirm that I will set out the details of how we will meet our NATO commitment to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2035, with a target date for 3 per cent in 2030.”
John Healey Pledges Welfare Reform
UK Chancellor John Healey has also pledged to reduce the country’s welfare bill through reforms to disability assessments, Universal Credit and the State Pension Triple Lock, arguing that the existing system places an unsustainable burden on taxpayers.
According to John Healey, the government will pursue changes aimed at improving employment support, addressing shortcomings in the welfare system and controlling long-term public spending.
The proposals include adjustments to pension increases from 2030, alongside plans for a National Care Service intended to ease the financial and practical burdens facing older people and their families.
He added that the government will reduce welfare spending while protecting vulnerable people, insisting that Labour would pursue its reforms differently from its predecessors.
The government also plans to reform the Motability scheme and tighten rules affecting people living abroad who seek to access the UK State Pension on more favourable terms.
“But there is more to do. I refuse to write off a million young people, like the last Conservative government. I refuse to see disabled people suffer the indignities of a system that has been found ‘not fit for purpose’, and I refuse to allow the burden of paying for this failing system to fall on taxpayers for decades to come.”
Chancellor John Healey
The Chancellor confirmed that Alan Milburn and the Timms panel will publish their final reports the following month, after which the government will announce its response before the end of 2026.
A White Paper and legislation are expected to follow in 2027, setting out the proposed changes in greater detail.
Kemi Badenoch Condemns Budget Over Spending and Taxation
Conservative Leader, Kemi Badenoch criticised Healey’s Budget, arguing that it failed to address the UK’s economic challenges and did not provide the scale of action she believed was necessary.
“Not good enough, not strong enough, not bold enough,” the Conservative leader stated.
She described UK as “overspent, overborrowed, overtaxed and drowning in an out-of-control welfare system” under Labour.
Kemi Badenoch also accused the government of failing to deliver on its broader promises, arguing that the Budget offered more borrowing, higher taxes and increased welfare spending rather than the economic changes the country needed.
“The Prime Minister came in promising to reverse 40 years of neoliberalism. Instead, we got 4p off gherkins,” she added.
Although she welcomed the additional £10 billion in support for Ukraine, Badenoch criticised Healey for postponing the detailed plans for higher defence spending until next year’s spending review.
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