UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has unveiled a 3 per cent funding increase for the National Health Service in a spending review that Labour intends as a platform for the next election.
Reeves said she would make a “record cash investment” into the NHS, increasing real terms spending in every year of the review period.
The chancellor’s plans have caused disputes within the government over squeezing many areas while the Conservative opposition warns that the review will lead to tax rises.
Reeves confirmed that total departmental budgets will rise by 2.3 per cent a year in real terms over the three years of the spending review to 2028-29.
Much of the boost is set to go to defence-related expenditure, which is set to rise to 2.6 per cent of GDP from 2027, as well as health, leaving other departments facing real-terms cuts.
Reeves also announced a £39bn investment for “affordable” homes over 10 years, and an additional £10bn to help “crowd in” private sector investment in housebuilding.
The affordable homes plans are part of a borrowing-fuelled spending spree on capital projects, including £113bn of extra cash over the current parliament.
The chancellor added that the government was investing in “the biggest rollout of nuclear power for half a century”.
Reeves sought to draw a contrast with the previous Conservative policy of austerity, which she labelled as “a destructive choice”. She added that her fiscal rules were “non-negotiable and . . . the foundation of stability and investment”.