Gavin Grey: UK correspondent ahead of the Budget promising to 'rebuild Britain'

Over in the UK, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to deliver her first Budget on October 30th.

She's warned this Budget will involve some 'difficult choices' regarding tax, spending and benefits.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says significant tax rises have been ruled out to fix the multi-billion pound financial 'black hole'.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And Gavin Gray is our UK correspondent. Hey, Gevin, Hi, there,
So this budget that you guys have looming is going
to be one that's going to rebuild Britain apparently. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yeah, So the budget doesn't until the end of October,
just over five weeks time, but the government important today
will be setting out its plans for the future. This
is the first speech by the new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves
at a party conference. So every year the political parties
go away and discuss their manifestos, discuss their plans proposals

(00:31):
among the party membership and Rachel Reeves, the new Chancellor,
do you to give her speech in a little over
four hours time and saying that she's going to rebuild
written it comes to me quite a bit of a
row saying effectively, the government has been so pessimistic about
the economic situation here in the UK, saying it has

(00:51):
inherited this twenty two billion pound almost fifty billion New
Zealand dollars black hole in the economy is what they're saying.
That many people saying you are driving investment out of Britain.
So what we're expected to hear today perhaps a little
bit of talking things up but definitely the message will

(01:12):
be no return to austerity. She will say. The previous
government had austerity at its center and it was destructive.
They say they've got to deal with that and that'll
mean some tough decisions. So it's going to be a
budget with real ambitions. Now. They've already ruled out numerous
different tax rises, which is interesting. No major increase in

(01:33):
national insurance, income tax, normal income tax and value added
tax here in the UK. So what does that leave
where lots of people think inheritance tax, the tax on
what you leave after you die, along with maybe another
one called capital gains tax, which is a tax on
a profit that you make from buying something and then

(01:54):
selling it more expensively, could come into play. But I
don't think we're going to hear the detail of that.
They're going to keep that till the end of October.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
How one earth has France ended up with the right
wing government.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
It's absolutely astonishing, actually, so it is the oddness the
way in which they pick their cabinets and the way
in which their politics worked. You will remember that the
president Emmanuel Macron chose a snap election back in July,
an election which he thought would strengthen his position. It didn't,
it weakened it, and in the end the right wing

(02:29):
parties did very well, and to block them, a group
of left wing parties got together and said, look, vote
for us, because we are effectively the only way to
stop the right and far right getting in well. Emmanuel
Macron has appointed a centrist prime minister by the name
of Michelle Barnier. He was the eu Brexit negotiator and

(02:51):
has now unveiled a right wing or right of center
party for his ministers in the cabinet. It's extraordinary because
most people voted left wing, so already there are demands
for people to have a vote and no confidence. Their
first cabinet meeting will be this afternoon, but within hours
of announcing his choice of people to elect as ministers,

(03:12):
they are already facing this no confidence vote, which we
expect to take place quite soon, and that incidentally could
be the first of many no confidence votes even if
they survived that. It is an extraordinary choice, but many think, well,
he got himself into this model and now he's going
to have to try and get out of it.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
Devin, can you explain to me why, I mean, I
understand why people with esma were kept out of the
armed forces. But why eckning.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah, it's well, it's a very very good reason that
the reason behind it is often some of the medications
that people with acnely have to take lead them to
different side effects. But you're right, it's a ridiculous thing.
But for many, many years now people with acne and
asthma have been kept out of the British Army. Not
so from now. The reason is a recruitment crisis. It's

(04:00):
said that the British Armies, of its smallest size in
two hundred years, they did already say a six percent
pay increase should hope boost recruitment, but it wants to
speed up the process. This current government, with outdated restrictions
being are really thrown on the scrap peep. And so
now although you still have to pass a tough medical

(04:21):
people with heart problems, back hood problems, hearing or vision
issues and other issues will struggle to make the grade.
But a range of other conditions that might have affected
your chances will now be accepted. And also interestingly in
this they're saying, you know, certainly, yeah, okay, if your
frontline asthma will be an effect, but what happens if

(04:43):
you're a great gamer. They're even saying, you know, if
you're a gamer, we are looking for top cyber defense experts.
So it is a wide ranging call to arms.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
Interesting. The neuds gets jobs as well, and Gavin thanks
very much, which is good. It was always going to
pay off. Thank you, Gavin Gray, a UK correspondent.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
Here.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
The people will stop from joining the armed forces with
acne because there was and is a risk of skin
infection when serving in field conditions, and the acne could
be further inflamed by certain pieces of equipment that will
warn or I use I suppose, like if you put
a mask on at this fairpoint.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
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