MoneySavingExpert (MSE) founder Martin Lewis has been among those to have delved into the announcement and what exactly its proposals mean in practice
Five Budget updates this week you need to know
- Speaking on his Budget special podcast this week, Martin Lewis suggested that one aspect of the Budget could have been a lot worse than it was. This specifically pertains to upcoming changes to cash ISAs, expected to take effect from 2027.
READ MORE HERE: Martin Lewis says one Budget move ‘isn’t as bad as it could’ve been’
- Beyond the cash ISA changes, Martin also explored upcoming changes to energy bills, set to take effect from April next year. His thoughts come after Ofgem’s energy price cap increased by 2% from October 1, meaning that a typical dual-fuel household paying by Direct Debit will incur an annual cost of £1,755.
READ MORE HERE: Martin Lewis shares his ‘3 wins’ from Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ 2025 Budget
- In documents released for the Budget, the Treasury confirmed tax rates on savings income will be increased by 2% at the basic, higher and additional rates from April 6, 2027, and the Starting Rate of Savings limit will be maintained at £5,000 from April 2026 to April 2031. Chancellor Rachel Reeves also announced that tax rates on property, savings, and dividend income will increase by two percentage points. In light of this, Martin Lewis issued an alert to all savers with £20,000 and explained how the thresholds will affect people.
READ MORE HERE: Martin Lewis issues a Budget alert to savers with £20,000
- A major ‘win’ Martin also discussed concerns the Government’s intentions to protect consumers, including in the telecoms sector. This follows what Martin calls an ‘outrageous’ move by O2, in which the firm recently increased bills by ‘40% more’ than what many initially signed up for. Martin claimed that the Chancellor was expected to send a letter to Ofcom regarding his concerns about telecom pricing, with the O2 change understood to have affected up to 15.6 million customers. He explained that a letter was expected to be issued yesterday, and it has now been made available on GOV.UK.
- You can read more about this here. However, regarding Martin’s concerns, an O2 spokesperson told the Mirror: “We have been fully transparent with our customers about this change, writing directly to them and providing the right to exit without penalty if they wish, which is in line with existing rules. While we recognise price changes are never welcome, an increase equivalent to 8p per day is greatly outweighed by the £700m we invest each year into our mobile network. We’ll continue to engage constructively with Ministers as we invest billions of pounds in digital infrastructure to help deliver the connectivity ambitions set out by Government at a time when telecoms prices have fallen in real terms, usage is increasing and competition in the market has never been greater.”
READ MORE HERE: Martin Lewis reveals letter he was sent by Rachel Reeves after shock O2 price hike
- Rachel Reeves unveiled a £15 billion benefits spending plan at Wednesday’s Budget, and scrapped the two-child benefit cap. There will be increased payments for those receiving Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and child benefits.
- The Chancellor framed the move – projected to cost taxpayers £3 billion annually – as a strategy to lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty.
READ MORE HERE: Budget 2025: DWP Universal Credit, PIP and Child Benefit rises – full amounts
