Chancellors Scene Setter speech ahead of Budget 2025 + Q&A

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivered her scene setter speech on Tuesday 4 November 2025.

"Later this month, I will deliver my second Budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer.  

At that Budget, I will make the choices necessary to deliver strong foundations for our economy. 

My Budget led by this government's values of fairness and opportunity… 

…and focused entirely on the priorities of the British people: 

Protecting our NHS, 

reducing our national debt,  

and improving the cost of living.  

There is a lot of speculation about the choices that I will make. 

I understand that – these are the important choices that will shape the future of our country for years to come  

I want people to understand the circumstances we are facing, 

the principles guiding my choices, 

and why I believe they will be the right choices for our country. 

We are a country with considerable economic strengths: 

An open, trading economy,  

A global hub for cutting-edge industries from AI to Biotech, 

With world-leading universities and scientific institutions,  

and a talented and a committed workforce. 

[political redaction] 

At the Budget last year, I fixed the foundations: 

[political redaction] 

I put the public finances back on a firm footing,  

Provided an urgent cash injection into our faltering public services,  

And began rebuilding our economy. 

But since that Budget,  

The world has thrown even more challenges our way.  

The continual threat of tariffs has dragged on global confidence - 

Deterring business investment, and dampening growth. 

Inflation has been too slow to come down as supply chains continue to be volatile - 

Meaning that the cost of everyday essentials remains too high.  

And the cost of government borrowing has increased around the world - 

A shift that Britain – [political redaction] – has been particularly exposed to.  

And in an uncertain world, we also face pressure to increase our defence spending – and it is right that we do that… 

…protecting ourselves from hostile actors and supporting our allies. 

And there are other pressures on the public finances. 

The Prime Minister, the Secretary of Work and Pensions and this whole government are committed to reforming our welfare state… 

…so that it is not a system that counts the cost of failure…  

…but one that invests in success and protects those who need it most. 

There is nothing progressive about refusing to reform a system that is leaving one in eight young people out of education or employment. 

So, we have begun the job of creating a system that protects people who cannot work and empowers those who can. 

And there are longer-term challenges too:  

That feeling, shared by millions of people across the country that the economy isn't working as it should. 

Alongside the Budget this month,  

The Office for Budget Responsibility – the UK's public finance watchdog - will set out the conclusions of their review of the supply side of the UK economy. 

I will not pre-empt those conclusions…  

…but it is already clear that the productivity performance [political redaction] is weaker than previously thought. 

A less productive economy is one that produces less output per hour worked. 

That has consequences for working people – for their jobs and for their wages… 

…and it has consequences for the public finances too, in lower tax receipts.  

It's not a question of how hard people work –  

Poor productivity means we are putting in more and getting less out. 

It means too many businesses and workers don't have the tools they need: 

Trains that run on time,  

Broadband that's fast and reliable, 

Access to new technologies, 

Or proper training so people have the right skills for the job.   

For a long time, commentators have talked about Britain's ‘productivity puzzle'.  

But it's not a puzzle.  

The causes of our economic underperformance are well understood. 

The chronic stop-go cycle of public investment has left us with roads full of potholes, high energy prices and unstable conditions for vital business investment in skills and technology… 

…and long-term failure to invest in our regions has built growth on a narrow base - with some parts of the country forging ahead while others fall behind. 

[political redaction] 

All this meant that when the pandemic arrived our country was under-prepared… 

…our public services weakened and our economy fragile. 

And we finished the pandemic with higher death rates and higher debt than our peers. 

This isn't about relitigating old choices. 

It's about being honest with people about the consequences those choices have had.  

It is my job to deal with the world as we find it… 

…not the world as I would wish it to be.  

Not to commentate or speculate,  

But to act. 

In my Mais lecture last year, I set out our plan for solving our productivity problem through a programme of stability, investment and reform, 

And when I became Chancellor, I  began to put that plan into action. 

Stabilising our public finances – 

Making the tax and spending decisions to get debt down and to fund our public services sustainably.  

Changing the fiscal rules to increase public investment by £120bn over the course of this Parliament… 

…and crowding in private investment too… 

For road and for rail, for housing and nuclear power. 

And reforming our economy: 

Ripping up the planning rules so we can build housing and infrastructure across the country… 

Bringing the brightest and best to our shores with a new visa regime… 

And signing trade deals with the EU, the US and India to help our businesses export around the world.  

We have begun to see the results of those plans…  

…in falling interest rates and falling NHS waiting lists… 

…in rising wages and rising investment.  

But I know that real progress takes time.  

Our growth was the fastest in the G7 in the first half of this year – but I don't expect anyone to be satisfied with growth of 1%. 

I'm not – and I know there is more to do.  

The first part of our planning reforms will add an additional £6.8bn to the size of our economy in the next five years,  

But the next part – our planning bill – must complete its passage through Parliament before it can make a difference. 

Interest rates, which rose from 0.1% to 5.25% in the last Parliament, have now been cut five times… 

…but at 4% they are still a constraint on business borrowing and a burden on family finances. 

[political redaction] 

…and the choices I make in the Budget this month will be focused on getting inflation falling…  

…and creating the conditions for interest rate cuts to support economic growth and improve the cost of living.  

I understand the urge for easy answers. 

[political redaction] 

The UK's national debt now stands at £2.9trillion: 

Equivalent to 95% of GDP. 

[political redaction] our borrowing costs were in the middle of the pack compared to other advanced economies… 

…but now, we have the highest borrowing costs of any G7 country. 

Today, 1 in every £10 of taxpayer's money is spent on debt interest.  

Not on paying that debt down… 

…but just paying the interest to our creditors. 

At the Budget last year, I changed the fiscal rules to strike a careful balance: 

To invest more in capital alongside a credible plan to grow our economy and bring debt down within this Parliament. 

That was the right decision to break the cycle of low productivity and low growth. 

But that additional investment can only be delivered because markets know that my commitment to the fiscal rules is ironclad.  

Some people say we should just sidestep those rules… 

…that we can borrow more without consequences by simply reclassifying areas like defence or education. 

But no accounting trick can change the basic fact that government debt is sold on financial markets. 

There are limits on the price that banks, hedge funds and pension funds are willing to pay for our debt… 

…and we are competing constantly with other countries also selling debt . 

The more we try and sell, the more it will cost us.   

It is important that everyone – the public and politicians - understands that reality. 

The less we spend on debt interest, the more we can spend on the priorities of working people… 

…our NHS, our schools, our national security… 

…the public services essential to a decent society and a strong economy. 

At the Budget last year, I provided our public services with a vital cash injection…  

…and I'm proud of that choice: 

Proud that it [political redaction] that is providing record investment in our NHS getting waiting lists down by over 200,000 since the election, 

Proud that it [political redaction] that is investing in our children through the rollout of free breakfast clubs and free school meals, 

And proud that it [political redaction] that is funding our armed forces and remains resolute in our NATO commitments. 

The alternative is to row back on those investments: 

[political redaction] 

Stifling our economic growth, 

And weakening Britain's foundations in an unstable world. 

I will not repeat those mistakes. 

But if we want strong public services in the decades to come, then we must recognise that productivity and efficiency are not only a challenge for business, but they are a challenge for our public sector too.  

At the Spending Review I announced £14bn of efficiencies per year to be delivered by 2029: 

Cutting government spend on consultancies, 

Getting rid of bureaucratic quangos and regulators, 

And driving efficiency through AI and digital technologies. 

But I know that there is more to do,  

In the Budget and beyond, I will continue to drive for more productive and more efficient public services, right across government… 

…making savings and rooting out waste wherever I find it.   

[political redaction] 

When I was appointed Chancellor, people put their faith in me to take our country forward… 

…not to be swayed by political convenience… 

…not to always do what is popular, but to do what is right.  

At the Budget, I will continue to deliver on the priorities of the British people:  

Cutting NHS waiting lists, cutting the national debt and cutting the cost of living.  

And in the context of the long-term challenges on our productivity and heightened global uncertainty… 

…any Chancellor of any party would be standing here today, facing the choices that I face.  

The difference is in the priorities – and the values – that will guide those choices:  

Mine will be a Budget for growth with fairness at its heart… 

…and a Budget that supports businesses – to create jobs and to innovate. 

As I take my decisions on both tax and spend… 

…I will do what is necessary to protect families from high inflation and interest rates… 

…to protect our public services from a return to austerity…  

…and to ensure that the economy that we hand down to future generations is secure, with debt under control. 

If we are to build the future of Britain together, we will all have to contribute to that effort… 

…each of us must do our bit for the security of our country and the brightness of its future. 

There is a reward for getting these decisions right, 

To build more resilient public finances – with the headroom to withstand global turbulence… 

…giving business the confidence to invest and leaving government freer to act when the situation calls for it, 

To continue to invest in our infrastructure and our industry to build a stronger economy, 

And to get the cost of borrowing down – spending less on debt interest, and more on schools and our health service. 

The Office for Budget Responsibility will make their forecasts at the end of this month… 

…but let's be clear about what forecasts are: 

They are not visions of the future… 

…they are a look in the rear-view mirror. 

The OBR rightly make their predictions based on the data that has gone before… 

…but I do not believe that our past has to determine our future…  

…or that a stuttering economy, poor productivity and falling living standards is somehow Britain's destiny. 

A brighter future is within our grasp. 

We were elected to break with the cycle of decline…  

…and this government is determined to see that through.  

So we will go further and faster, on planning, on the industrial strategy, on reforming to regulation… 

…all to deliver growth throughout our economy, in all parts of our country. 

We will bear down on waiting lists, on the cost of living, and on the national debt which compound these challenges… 

…and when that requires hard choices, we will act – guided by the interests of working people.  

We were elected on a commitment to put country before party; the national interest before political calculation… 

…and, whatever challenges come our way – whatever challenges come my way – we will not be swayed from that.   

At the Budget this year, I will continue to build the strong foundations to secure Britain's future.  

For a fairer Britain 

A more prosperous Britain  

A Britain with an economy that works for everyone. 

Thank you very much."

Beth Rigby - Sky News:
Chancellor. You made history in your last budget when you increased taxes by £40 billion in the biggest tax raising budget in over a generation. You said at the time it was a once in a parliament tax raising budget, and you told me explicitly Labour would stick to our manifesto commitment not to increase taxes that working people pay today. Do you still stand by both those promises? And if you can't, or if you won't, aren't you making a mockery of the voters that put their trust in you at the general election? Thank you.

Rachel Reeves:. I will set out the individual policies that the budget on the 26th of November. That's not what today is about. Today is about setting the context for that budget.

And your viewers can see the challenges that we face. But the challenges that are on a on a global nature. And they can also see the challenges in the long term performance of our economy.

And the Office for Budget Responsibility will set all that out. They've done the review of the supply side of the economy that looks at the past, but they use the past to predict the future.

And as Chancellor, I have to face the world as it is not the world that I want it to be. And when challenges come our way, the only question is how to respond to them, not whether to respond or not. And as I respond at the budget on the 26th of November, my focus will be on getting NHS waiting lists down, getting the cost of living down and also getting the national debt down.

Robert Peston - ITN:
Chancellor, good to see you. You've just made the case in effect for raising taxes by tens of billions of pounds. The HMRC stats don't lie. If you do that, you will have to put up taxes for millions of people, including those you call working people, won't you?

Rachel Reeves:
Well, today is not about individual choices. They will be set out in the usual way in the budget.

But what I want people to understand as we go into that budget is the circumstances which we face, and that is the circumstances of great opportunities for our country for the reasons that I set out, but also big challenges. And as Chancellor, I could do what previous governments have done, which is to sweep those challenges under the carpet, to cut capital spending, to make the numbers add up. But then we'll be back here in a year or in five years time. With productivity still on its knees, growth underperforming compared with our peers, and the national debt continued to rise.

So I'm being honest with people that at the election I said that we would put the national interest first. People can see that, that things are changing, that the global circumstances are challenging. And I hope they will see at the budget on the 26th of November that the focus on getting the debt down, getting NHS waiting lists down and getting the cost of living down, which continues to be people's number one concern, are the priorities that I will be focusing on.

Neil Macdonald – Channel 4 News:
Concerns about the OBR's assessment of productivity have been around for years and years and years. You must surely have known this problem was lurking out there. And does that mean that you should have been clearer with people at the time of the election, that you might have to put up taxes to deal with that problem?

Rachel Reeves:
Well, we did increase taxes last year at the budget to fill the £22 billion black hole in the in the public finances. Chancellor, of course, has to use the independent forecasts of the Office of Budget Responsibility and we use those last year at the budget, at the spring Statement and at the Spending Review. But of course, it is their right to change those forecasts. But the most important thing is that we use those forecasts to underpin a budget or a spending review.

And in fact, when a Chancellor decides not to do that, you go the way that Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng did. Kwarteng did, where they wouldn't even allow the OBR to do a forecast.

I have respect for independent economic institutions, whether that is an independent Bank of England or an independent office for Budget Responsibility, and that's why I use their forecasts in the way that we should.

But they will update, as we all know, their view about the supply side of the economy. They will set out the reasons for doing that and the reasons for their new assumptions on total factor productivity, the productivity predictions for the forecast.

But forecasts are, by their nature, based on past data. I don't believe that the past is our destiny. I believe, and I am determined to defy those forecasts, but it is right that we use those forecasts to underpin our economic policy. Otherwise, I'm afraid it is the road to ruin, which is the road that Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng chose, which is why we still have higher borrowing costs than every other G7 economy. That was not the case before that mini budget.

I'm determined to bring those borrowing costs down and to bring our national debt down. So instead of spending one in every £10 of taxpayers money on servicing our national debt, we can put that money to good use in our public services.

Chris Mason - BBC News:
I've got your manifesto here from last year. And on page 21, it says explicitly that Labour will not increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase National insurance, the basic, higher or additional rates of income tax or VAT. What do you say to those who have listened to you this morning? And yes, they'll wait for your choices in a few weeks time, but will say perhaps, Crikey, it looks like the Chancellor's about to drive a coach and horses through either that promise or the promise from a year ago not to come back for more.

And if I may, on last week's news, how did you manage to make such a mess of applying for a rental license on your home, having championed the very policy yourself, and then managed to give one account to the Prime Minister only to come back and have to give another one? Thank you.

Rachel Reeves:
So I will set out the specific policy choices on the 26th of November, and that's the right thing to do. And we're going through that process and the iterative process with the OBR at the moment, with the forecasts and different policy measures.

What I want people to understand, and I think it is the right thing and the courteous thing to do to explain those challenges, but also the principles that will guide me in confronting them. And that's what today's speech is about.

There would be a different route through this. As I said in a previous answer. I could say, as I said to Robert, and what previous chancellors did was, okay, we've got these these challenges coming our way. The easy thing to do would be to cut investment in housing, to cut investment in energy security, to cut investment in our transport infrastructure.

But the reason we have such low productivity today, and the reason why the OBR are updating their forecasts, is because governments have done that for the last 14 years, and that's why we face so many of the challenges we face today. And I'm not going to be a chancellor like that.

I am going to put the country first. I'm going to put the national interest first, so that Chancellors in the future are not going to have to address the productivity puzzle. I don't think it's a puzzle, but the productivity problem that we face today, I'm going to take the long term interests in our country's interest.

And as I make those decisions, I am going to be laser focused on what I think are the key things for our country right now, and that is to get our debt down. Because if we weren't spending one in every £10 on just servicing the debt, not even repaying it, but just on the interest costs. Then we'd have more money for our NHS or indeed money for tax cuts.

Getting NHS waiting lists down. We've already cut them by over 200,000 in the first year of this Labour government. But of course there's more to do with waiting lists, still more than 7 million, and to get the cost of living down because interest rates and inflation, of course, are putting pressure on family finances in the same way that taxes put pressure on family finances.

So I've set out the circumstances that I'm confronting going into this budget and also the principles, and then people will be able to judge whether they think I've made the right decisions.

I will argue that they are the right decisions in our country's national interest. Of course, it's the role of others to scrutinise, but for other political parties, it's their responsibility to put forward an alternative and an alternative, not a fantasy economics like what we're hearing at the moment from reform and the conservative but serious plans, because that's what these times demand.

And on the issue of housing, there was an exchange of letters last week between myself and the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's ethics adviser has passed his judgement. I don't have anymore to say than that.

Ben Riley-Smith - The Daily Telegraph.
It's pretty clear you're keeping open the possibility of breaking your manifesto, as you say. You want to do what's right, but not what's popular. If you look at history.

Rachel Reeves:
Well, I'd like to do both. But I will do what is right.

Ben Riley-Smith - The Daily Telegraph.:
Well, often governments have broken manifestos have been turfed out. Are you willing to lose the next election if it puts the public finances right?

Rachel Reeves:
We've got to do the right things.  the problem of the last 14 years is that political expediency always came above the national interest, and that is why we are in the mess that we are in today.

There is no reason why borrowing costs in Britain should be higher than every other G7 economy. Why are borrowing costs are higher than in Italy or in France? The reason they are is because the damage done by that mini budget, it might have been three years ago, but we are still paying the price of that.


But also the price of keep racking up the national debt 94% of GDP, £2.6 trillion. If we had lower debt and we had lower debt servicing costs. We wouldn't be having to make the choices that we have to make today. And I am determined to put our country on a more sustainable footing.

Public finances that are under control. A public services that are properly funded and yes, with a focus on fairness and on growth. Because in the end, growth is the best way out of the challenges that we face. I set all that out, but if you're asking me what comes first, the national interest or political expediency, it's the national interest every single time with me. And that's the same for Keir Starmer too.

Pippa Crerar- The Guardian:
You said that Labour has fixed the foundations, but how can this be true when you need to come back now to make this pitch rolling speech for more taxes in the budget? And how important is it to you that when politicians make promises to the British people that they stick to them?

Rachel Reeves:
So we did fix the foundations last year. We filled the £22 billion black hole in the public finances. We provided a vital injection into our public services. But crucially, by changing the fiscal rules to separate out day to day spending and capital spending, we were able to put an additional £120 billion into capital investment to improve our energy security, to build new rail and road infrastructure, to build the housing we need, and also the digital infrastructure that our country needs.

But I think that everyone can see that this year has thrown further challenges our way. Britain is not unique in that respect. The impact of tariffs, of global uncertainty weighs on countries around the world. And at the same time the OBR are choosing this moment to update their forecasts on productivity.

I am determined to beat those forecasts. costs. But you have to respond to the independent forecasts that are presented. Not just your view of what the future will look like. As I said in the answer to the previous question, if you ignore those independent forecasts and sideline independent economic institutions, what will have is a higher interest rates and higher inflation. We've had that playbook before and it was a disaster. And it's not one I'm going to repeat.

I think it is important that people are honest. And I think as I said, everyone can see that this year has thrown many more challenges our way. It would be possible to cut capital spending, to change the fiscal rules, to make the numbers superficially add up. But I'm not convinced that that would be the right thing for our country. and, and so I have to respond to the world as it is, rather than the world I might want to be. And I believe, in the end, that the public will respond better to doing the right thing than to just doing the expedient thing. Abigail Foster.

Abigail Foster.
How can you bring about hope to the young generation who can't get jobs, can't get houses, and are seriously worried about the upcoming budget?

Rachel Reeves:
I think it's a good challenge. On housing, we are determined in this Parliament to build 1.5 million new homes with a good chunk of those social and affordable housing, because home ownership went backwards over the last few years. And I want more young people and more families to be able to get on the housing ladder and realise that dream of home ownership.

But there's another sort of deep problem, which is that 1 in 8 young people are not in education, employment or training. And that's why we're introducing a youth guarantee to ensure that all young people have those opportunities that perhaps we took for granted. But for too many people today is not the reality.

So I recognize that young people, through the pandemic, through the cost of living challenges, have borne a particularly hard burden. And that's why we're putting more money into FFA, into apprenticeships, and through this youth guarantee, as well as the house building program, which I hope will enable more young people to buy a home of their own. Cameron Smith.

Cameron Smith:
Good morning. if taxes are to rise in the budget, how can you assure that this money will be well spent and that taxes may come back down if the economy recovers?

Rachel Reeves:
Exactly. And, we already in the Spending Review announced £14 billion of efficiencies in public services, cutting consultancies, reducing the number of quangos and regulators, reducing the size of the civil service, using technology much better in the delivery of public services, which to be honest, has been pretty woeful what we inherited.
So making those changes to ensure that we get value for money, and also things like appointing the Covid corruption commissioner to get money back from contracts that didn't deliver under the previous government, and putting that money back into our frontline public services.

And the point you make about what we might be able to do in the future. The whole point of the decisions that I plan to make in the budget on 26th November is to make decisions in the future easier than the decisions that confront us today by getting a grip of the national debt, for example, will open up opportunities either to put money into public services or to get taxes down in the future. The reason those opportunities don't present themselves now is that borrowing costs are too high and the national debt is too high. Those are issues that we inherited from the previous government. And they're ones that I plan to address in the in the budget later this month.

Lewis Dennison- ITV digital:
Now then Chancellor there's as you've mentioned a couple of times, there's a million young people out of work or education, and you want to cut the welfare bill. Nigel Farage has said anxiety shouldn't be an eligible condition for claiming benefits. Do you think anxiety should be an eligible condition for claiming benefits?

Rachel Reeves:
Well, I think that it's in the end up to health practitioners to decide and to make those decisions. We do know that there are many young people who are struggling with mental health, particularly since the pandemic. And if we go back and remember the burden and the toll that the pandemic put on young people who during what should be those years where they develop those friendships and those bonds and social skills, they were trapped in their home on zoom. And I think that we should all recognize the huge toll that the pandemic put on them more than anyone else in society.

But that's why I believe we need to give more opportunities to young people and young people with mental health issues, including anxiety, are often much better served if they are in work and given the support to get back into work, rather than just being left on out of work and sickness benefits, which is a waste of their potential and not a good use of taxpayers money. And that's why the youth Guarantee is going to be really crucial for us to reduce that problem of a million young people not in education, employment or training.

It is not acceptable that 1 in 8 young people are in that position today. And I'll be setting out more details. Already announced the Youth Guarantee and our Labour Party conference, and will be setting out more details in the budget.

Ryan Sabey – The Sun:
Chancellor, you said the budget will be led by the people's priorities, one of which is improving the cost of living. Can you do anything to make a material difference in as families know that food prices go up, financial pressure on households, all this just be tinkering around the edges.

Rachel Reeves:
I think the two biggest things that weigh on people's mind when they think about the cost of living are food prices and energy prices. On food prices, we set out last year a review of our business rates system and will be setting out more detail in the budget on that.

But I was really clear in opposition and have been through my time as Chancellor that we need to reform the business rate system so it is fairer for high streets and smaller businesses and ensuring that those who operate just online pay their fair share of taxes. The current business rate system was designed for a previous age, not for a digital age, and so we'd be reforming the business rate rates system to hopefully give a bit more comfort to small businesses and high street businesses as well.

And then the other challenge that people face are high energy prices. And this goes back to a sort of structural issue as well, that we haven't been building enough energy infrastructure in Britain. And when Russia's invasion of Ukraine came along, we were too exposed to global markets and did not have gas storage facilities or produce enough homegrown energy, which is why we are putting efforts in to that.


But I do recognize that energy prices are still very high for people, and we want to ease that pressure on the cost of living. That is why I've set it as one of the three priorities for the budget. The cost of living NHS waiting lists and getting the national debt down.

George Parker -F.T:
You've talked a lot about protecting the interests of working people. What reassurances can you give to some of the people who employ working people, the foreign investors, entrepreneurs, the wealthy? In fact, that your budget won't make their life harder and lead to an even more sluggish growth rate we've already got an anaemic, economic situation.

Rachel Reeves:
Yes. Let's not talk our economic performance down. The IMF, their annual meetings, last month upgraded their forecasts for GDP growth in the UK. This year, we were the fastest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of this year. And the IMF forecast that we will be the second fastest growing economy in the G7 for this year as a whole. The FTSE is at an all time high, as outperformed other stock markets this year. Retail sales surprised on the upside in the most recent numbers and investment is a little bit stronger as well.

But I absolutely recognise that to improve living standards for working people, we also need to have more good jobs paying decent wages. And so, we'll seek to get that balance right in the, in the budget next month. But I absolutely recognise the point. maybe just a final question here in the front row.

Kitty Johnson - I paper:
Is the problem here the parliamentary Labour Party. Is it fair to put up income tax, as you probably will when you can't get welfare? The welfare bill done, and also some of them are expecting you to cut the two child benefit cap. Can you give them some good news?

Rachel Reeves:
I think it's a bit unfair to blame the parliamentary Labour Party for the OBR supply side review, and that will likely be the biggest piece of news in terms of the economic and fiscal situation at the budget later this month.

But look, all decisions have consequences. And if you spend more on one thing, there's less money to spend on something else. I've always been really clear about that. There isn't a magic money tree for any type of spending, and any decisions to spend in one area will have consequences for other areas as well.

But the most impactful thing in the in the budget, in terms of the change in the fiscal and economic outlook, will be determined by productivity.