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Healey accused of a ‘complete failure’ to target energy bill support at those most in need – UK politics live <p>Resolution Foundation says ‘poorest half of households will gain… just £14 more than the £144 received by the richest half’</p><p>Good morning. The day after the budget is often the moment when big initiatives announced by the chancellor the day before with a flourish start to unravel as experts pore over the small print. There is not much of that happening this morning – mainly because <strong>John Healey</strong> did not have any really big initiatives up his sleeve. Compared with a normal budget, his tax and spending initiatives were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2026/oct/28/budget-2026-latest-updates-john-healey-andy-burnham-labour-uk-politics?page=with%3Ablock-6ae2085d8f08895cb8ad8da3#block-6ae2085d8f08895cb8ad8da3">mostly relatively minor</a>. That means that the opposition parties have been struggling to find things to attack, and so instead they have resorted to criticising Healey for what he did not do: slash welfare (the Tory/Reform UK solution), or join the EU’s single market (the Lib Dems’).</p><p>Healey has given interviews to all the main broadcasters, which are playing out this morning, but they were recorded last night and they don’t have any sensational new revelations. As <strong>Rowena Mason</strong> reports, one of the top lines was <strong>Healey</strong> saying he would cut welfare spending before the election.</p><p><strong>It accuses Healey of a “complete failure” to target help with energy bills at those most in need. </strong>It says:</p><p>The poorest half of households will gain £158 on average from cost of living support this year and next, just £14 more than the £144 received by the richest half – highlighting a complete failure to target help at those who need it most.</p><p><strong>It says long-term public spending plans imply a return to austerity. </strong>It says:</p><p>Tight spending plans beyond 2028-29 imply departmental budgets will take more of the strain in the future. But if the 3% defence target is met and real health spending continues to grow at 2.6%, pencilled-in spending totals imply that funding for 13 ‘unprotected’ departments will fall to just 4.7% of GDP by 2031-32, close to the post-austerity historic low.</p><p><strong>It says people will get poorer between now and the end of the parliament.</strong> It says:</p><p>Median real annual disposable incomes for working age households are set to grow by a paltry £600 over the course of the parliament. Worse still, those gains are already behind us. Between now (2026-27) and the end of the parliament (2028-29), typical incomes are forecast to fall in total by £1,050 (3 per cent).</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/oct/29/budget-john-healey-labour-uk-politics-latest-news">Continue reading...</a>
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