Sheerness pensioner says government budget 2025 gives and takes

People have praised and criticised the government’s latest budget, which outlined spending and taxation plans for the years ahead.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced several measures on Thursday, including raising the minimum wage, lifting the two-child benefit cap and extending fuel duty cuts that will put more money in some people’s pockets.

But the freeze on income tax thresholds, new taxes on homes worth more than £2m and a pay-per-mile charge on electric vehicles she revealed will see others paying more.

Sarah Smith from Sheerness said Labour’s tax and spending plan feels like she is “getting in one hand and giving it back with another”.

“It’s good that the state pension is going up, but I get taxed on my private pension,” she told BBC Radio Kent in Sheerness.

Reeves revealed the state pension in April will rise by 4.8% in line with average wages.

However, some pension savers will face a hit to the amount of money they can put into their pension without paying national insurance under measures she announced in the budget.

Kate Townsend-Blazier said lifting the two-child benefit cap will give people a “little bit more stability and improve their outcomes.”

The family services manager at the Seashells Children Centre said it would “help children out of poverty and have better outcomes”.

“We have a lot of families that are dependent on emergency funds,” she added.

There is some evidence that the Conservative policy has led to higher poverty rates among children in larger families since it came into effect in 2017.

Ismail Agirbas, who runs The Beano Cafe on Sheerness High Street, said he felt the government budget should have “done more”.

“All the banks have closed around here and people don’t come along the high street as a result – there needs to be more services to get people to come out,” he told BBC Radio Kent.

He added that he had already raised his prices “lots of times” since the pandemic due to the cost of living, but said that due to the minium wage rise he’ll probably have to do it again.

Fred Dolman, an apprentice from Sheerness, said the the minimum wage increase “will help me a bit but it’s not going to make me rich.

“They’ve done this to keep people happy but how will it be paid for,” he told BBC Radio Kent.

Ahead of the budget, the government announced that the legal minimum wage for over-21s is set to rise 4.1% in April, from £12.21 to £12.71 per hour.