New Chancellor John Healey confirms his first Budget will be held on October 28 amid outcry over Burnham's unfunded spending pledges

By CHRISTIAN CALGIE, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT-AT-LARGE Published: 00:57, 1 August 2026 | Updated: 01:17, 1 August 2026 We have 89 days to brace for more tax rises after new Chancellor John Healey confirmed his first Budget for October 28. That is nearly a month earlier than Rachel Reeves' last Budget, in an effort to pre-empt inflation rises later in the year.  Announcing the date yesterday, Mr Healey said his Budget will move 'power and money out of Westminster and into every postcode'. In a bid to prevent market fears of unfunded spending pledges, he insisted the event 'will be built on fiscal discipline'.  'It will meet our fiscal rules. It'll give businesses and families some of the stability they need to plan for the future.' But his Tory opposite number Mel Stride warned that the date gives Andy Burnham's government '89 more days of unfunded spending commitments and economy-damaging tax speculation'. This week the Tories warned that Mr Burnham has already racked up an eye-watering £96 billion in unfunded spending pledges, amounting to an increased tax bill of more than £4,300 for every working household in Britain.  New Chancellor John Healey, pictured here on July 21, has confirmed his first Budget will take place on October 28 In the past fortnight alone, the new Prime Minister has spent £1.7 billion on taking VAT off energy bills, capping bus fares at £2, promising to end rough sleeping and slashing business rates for pubs and music venues. It remains unclear whether Mr Healey, who resigned as Keir Starmer's Defence Secretary over a funding row, will use his Budget to find the extra £15 billion in military spending he was demanding just a few weeks ago. Mr Burnham will also face a major challenge to increase the Government's so-called 'fiscal headroom' – the annual surplus cash the Government has after meeting borrowing and debt rules. In March the headroom was £23.6 billion but since then has fallen to £8 billion, which could be wiped out should there be any financial shocks over the coming year.