The budget press releases begin – POLITICO.eu

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By SAM FRANCIS
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Good Friday morning. This is Sam Francis.
FUNCTION OVER FORMS: The first official budget announcement (if you don’t count Jackdaw) has landed — and it’s Westminster’s oldest pal, the bonfire of red tape. A Treasury press release says businesses will save “almost £800 million” a year under a new regime that will require less form-filling, fewer duplicate data requests and extended tariff suspensions — fleshing out the whole “budget for bloody-minded entrepreneurs” thing that John Healey chatted about on Wednesday.
Coming attractions: This is the first in a steady drumbeat of announcements expected before Wednesday’s budget. Playbook hears an AI package is planned for the weekend, which chimes with Kanishka Narayan telling Nick Robinson’s Political Thinking that he is “hoping the budget will have some positive news” after “incredibly positive conversations with the chancellor.” Playbook also hears Angela Rayner is booked for the pre-budget Sunday shows, presumably with an MHCLG-focussed announcement in her back pocket. That might save Healey a long interview where he refuses to talk about budget measures.
Monday’s summit: No. 10 will also convene MPs and charities on Monday for a pre-budget summit on homelessness, one of Burnham’s signature issues. PoliticsHome’s Nadine Batchelor-Hunt scooped the news, and writes that charities want an end to the freeze on Local Housing Allowance that they pay to council tenants in private housing. Burnham himself backed this change as mayor of Greater Manchester but has yet to confirm it in government. 
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BACK TO THE BUREAUCRACY: Today’s package is built on recommendations from the small business task force set up in June. It includes streamlined company reporting (£290 million), less duplicate reporting for asset managers (£105 million) and a simpler home-buying chain (£116 million). Some of the claimed savings come from changes that had not yet taken effect, including pausing a Companies House profit-and-loss filing requirement, due in April 2028, and extending tariff suspensions on more than 250 products (saving an estimated £155 million compared to if the tariffs had been applied).
Numberwang: By your author’s calculations, the itemized savings in the release add up to around £670 million, a little short of the headline £800 million in the government press release. Seasoned budget-watchers will know that big numbers involving efficiency savings have a habit of crumbling on impact. Financial Secretary James Murray is touring the broadcast studios this morning though to fill in the blanks.
Warm and fuzzy: The release comes with warm words from the people it’s aimed at. The CBI’s Rain Newton-Smith called it “a welcome step” toward giving smaller companies more time and headroom to focus on their businesses. Even the Conservatives are offering some faint praise, with Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith arguing it shows that Labour has “finally admitted that endless red tape is hammering businesses and killing jobs.”
Others who may have thoughts include … the 30-strong group of former Starmer-aligned MPs, who met on Tuesday to push for a pro-business budget. PoliticsHome’s Harriet Symonds reports the gathering included former ministers Steve Reed, Darren Jones and Peter Kyle. If you were in the room, Playbook’s inbox is open.
Brick by brick: More nuggets of what might appear in the budget continue to appear in the papers. The Times’ Steven Swinford and Oliver Wright report the revived Help to Buy scheme — rebadged as “Your First Home” — will be expanded to include households that earn a combined £110,000, or £140,000 in London, after concerns that teachers, nurses and other middle earners could be excluded.
But but but … Today’s announcement does little to dispel growing suspicions that all this focus on red tape is a way of pointing us away from the scale of the tax-and-spend policy — which looks to be smaller than under Rachel Reeves. Healey’s allies are arguing budgets should be counted on more than just the scorecard, while also insisting they’ve bust a gut while the U.S.-Iran war makes everything harder. There will be a “fiscal devolution roadmap” on budget day too, with legislation in the coming weeks to begin tourist taxes from January 2028. Burnham told mayors on Thursday he is “determined” to let them impose the taxes even if they overrule councils, the Times’ Constance Kampfner reports.
None of that will stop the Tories … calling it a “deferral” budget. The issue is that Burnham’s biggest reforms are still too early in train to feature much in this budget, with the 10-year plan and spending review hoovering up much of the hard stuff later on.
SCOOP — Pound signs: Former Reeves aide Matt Pound has warned the chancellor should “grasp the nettle and do what’s difficult” soon, otherwise he risks piling a “monumental amount of pressure” onto that review. Pound was chatting to my colleague Patrick Baker for a great episode of the Westminster Insider podcast on who really writes the budget (listen here). He also said the so-called bond vigilantes get a bad rap … while admitting Labour MPs got “sick of Rachel talking about the financial markets” last year.
Tick, tock: My colleague Dan Bloom has a deep dive into the landmines beyond the budget, which reports Healey is still trying to decide when in 2027 to hold the spending review. Dan also hears murmurings from Whitehall civil servants who reckon Burnham’s 10-year plan could be kicked into January — though Cabinet Office and No. 10 officials still insist it’ll come this side of Christmas. Bookmark that commitment; we’ll be coming back to it later.
SCOOP — “Andy Time”: A wider picture emerged of Burnham through Dan’s ring-round — a PM who gets into the details far more than Starmer and chews things over with colleagues, so much that some have apparently joked they could just remove his desk. Pro: Colleagues believe he cares and know his intentions. Con: Decisions have a habit of being made late. Dan hears that when Burnham arrived a few minutes late to his meeting with regional mayors yesterday, Angela Rayner joked they were all on “Andy Time.”
SPEAKING OF ANDY TIME: The PM will have a chance to be grilled on all this and more when he speaks to journalists around 10.30 a.m. in Liverpool, where he is hosting England’s first wildfire resilience summit. He then heads to No. 10 North to host a small business forum and is also due on BBC Radio 5Live at some point this afternoon. Finally the PM will (presumably) snuggle down to watch his own Gogglebox debut at 9.05 p.m. on Channel 4. 
The other thing the government wants to talk about: Burnham will set out plans to better equip first responders after crews struggled with wildfires during the summer heatwaves. Military aircraft and helicopters will be brought in to help tackle major fires, alongside investment in protective kit, peatland restoration to create natural firebreaks and help for farmers to fireproof their land. A new Wildfires AI Unit will also be created inside COBR’s National Situation Centre. The BBC and the Guardian both have write-ups.
Worst on record: The summit also coincides with a grim report from Imperial College London that estimates there were more than 50,000 excess heat deaths across European urban areas this summer. The U.K. figure is around 4,350 — the fifth-highest in Europe. Environmental Audit Committee Chair Toby Perkins says it shows the need to “rapidly decarbonise and transition away from fossil fuels.” 
Batten down the hatches: Which politician will be first to complain on X that this is all happening on a day of torrential rain and thunder? Place your bets now.
IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN: Given Jackdaw this week, a Rosebank decision looming and Burnham talking about getting bills down, it’ll be worth keeping a close eye on anything the budget says (or doesn’t say) about renewables next week.
Putin the squeeze on: The Tories are using the money argument to press for Rosebank’s approval. New Conservative analysis claims the field could cut EU purchases of Russian oil by just over £1 billion. Shadow Energy Secretary Andrew Bowie said: “We can Fuel Britannia at the same time as helping Europe to reduce its reliance on Russia.” Kemi Badenoch makes the case on the BBC Breakfast sofa this morning (timings below) before a pool clip at Cheshire Constabulary HQ.
Crude calculations: The Conservatives’ sums only work if EU buyers choose the new North Sea oil over Russia’s when both are traded on an open market, and if Moscow can’t find another customer. On recent form, it usually can.
Unlikely ally: The Tories do however have some unexpected support from Harriet Harman, who told the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that the government “should approve” Rosebank. The Labour grandee argues the oilfield could actually help cut global emissions because the U.K. “can impose good green conditions” on the extraction, compared with other countries. While revenues could flow into the new Energy Wealth Fund to “turbocharge our dash to invest in renewables.” Let’s see how that argument goes down with the MPs.
Strait talking: Ed Miliband, known to have some opinions on oil and gas, will today give his first interview since the Jackdaw announcement. The foreign secretary is speaking to pool reporters just before midday from Turkey, where he’s meeting with French, German and Italian counterparts (the E4) and the R4 (Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey) to discuss Middle Eastern stability and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Sub-plot: One wrinkle hanging over today’s meeting is Libya’s recent ratification of its 2019 maritime deal with Turkey, rejected by Egypt and the EU, which allowed Ankara to lay claim to large and potentially gas-rich areas of the eastern Mediterranean. On Wednesday, the EU put out a statement stating the agreement isn’t recognized under maritime law. Expect that dispute to linger behind the rictus grins in the 1 p.m. group photo.
REVERSE GEAR: Another test of the government’s net-zero nerve is whether it sticks to the zero emissions vehicles mandate requiring all new car sales to be electric by 2035. The consultation closes today, with one option cutting the 2030 target from 80% to as low as 50%. 
Current accounts: Ahead of the consultation closing, ChargeUK — the trade body for EV charging providers — told the Times’ Laurence Sleator that any retreat from the original commitment could leave taxpayers footing the bill for chargers if private investment dries up. Meanwhile, the FT’s Kana Inagaki and Jim Pickard report that Burnham’s government has been sounding out industry figures on a possible 60% ZEV target for 2030.
SAUVIGNON AND BEANS NEWS: MoD spinners will be pleased that their call for households to be self-sufficient for three days in case of emergency is on so many front pages this morning, including the The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Times and The Independent. The Daily Mail’s mocking of “Nanny Burnham” for lecturing families might even be chalked up as a win. It means a message the government has been trying to push for a while might be cutting through.
Croc and a hard place: Defence Secretary Wes Streeting used Newsnight to warn the U.S. off appeasement, after Steve Witkoff called Putin “a humanitarian.” “There is a very clear line between appeasement and a peace process,” he told Victoria Derbyshire, since Putin has a habit of invading Ukraine when pressure is taken off of him. “I’m saying don’t feed the crocodile.”
THE OTHER DEREGULATION STORY OF THE DAY: The FT’s Martin Arnold reports that the FCA and PRA will remove 139,000 finance workers from the “fit and proper” checks set up in the wake of the 2008 financial crash that helped bring down Jes Staley and Crispin Odey. The move is aimed at halving the regime’s £400 million annual cost.
REFORM DONOR DRAMA LATEST: The Guardian’s Rowena Mason reports that Reform’s newest billionaire donor, Sasan Ghandehari, has past links to the Iranian regime, which Nigel Farage has long criticized. Ghandehari’s lawyers say the connections were purely commercial, that he was forced out of the country in 2016 and was later persecuted by the regime.
CAREERS DAY: Alan Milburn’s review will propose career plans for 14-year-olds and a new “participation” system to stop teenagers drifting onto benefits, according to leaked documents seen by the i Paper’s Connie Dimsdale.
PRIVY COUNCIL PRESSURE: Bereaved families of people who died during the Covid-19 pandemic are calling for former Health Secretary Matt Hancock to be stripped of his appointment to the Privy Council. It comes after the Covid inquiry’s sixth report roundly criticized Hancock’s handling of care homes. The Mirror leads on the story.
THE ROBOT TOLD ME TO DO IT: Bloomberg reports that more MPs are using AI-generated focus groups to test their ideas. Research firms are using real data to build AI personas to react to political messages — an often cheaper and less time-consuming approach than the use of traditional focus groups. AI Minister Kanishka Narayan says using synthetic focus groups was one of the first things he did as an MP. Critics have quite naturally flagged that over-reliance on this new technology could detach politicians from reality. Perish the thought.
PROBABLY FINE: Narayan also revealed the government used advanced AI agents to uncover 500 “novel vulnerabilities” across “significant areas of the public sector.” The revelation came in an interview with the BBC’s Nick Robinson, recorded before the AI-discovered vulnerability in the PHP programming language hit the headlines.
COMPLAINING WORKS: After using his star turn at Conservative Party conference to complain that DEFRA had snubbed him three times, Charlie Ireland of “Clarkson’s Farm” has finally got his meeting with Angela Eagle. The ironically named “Cheerful Charlie” does look pretty happy in the pictures TBF.
HANGING BY A THREAD: The Telegraph reports that Britain has only one dedicated ship to repair critical deep-sea telecoms cables. Said cables carry 95% of global telecommunications data and Britain is almost entirely reliant on them for connection to the outside world. The Tel reckons any concerted sabotage could paralyze the country, particularly now that bad actors have learned that there’s just one ship to fix damaged lines. More still, that ship is meant to retire in 2030 and the government hasn’t guaranteed it will be replaced.
HOUSE OF COMMONS: Not sitting.
HOUSE OF LORDS: Sits from 10 a.m. with the second reading of the House of Lords (Alternative Second Chamber) Bill and second reading of the British Sovereignty Protection (Chagos Islands) Bill.
THE PIDDINGTON PROBLEM: The Piddington village that attempted to declare independence is suing the Home Office, alleging it acted unlawfully by failing to consider the threat to wildlife from a planned new asylum facility — including rare bats, great crested newts and badgers. The Telegraph reports that the campaign group Wrong Plan, Wrong Site wants a judicial review of the government’s plan to turn Bicester Garrison into a camp for nearly 1,300 asylum seekers. 
ROYAL ROW: Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey has told Sky an apology from the king for slavery “wouldn’t hurt” and that the “time has come” for a discussion about reparations. Fun reading for Andy Burnham ahead of his trip to the Commonwealth summit in about 10 days’ time.
FRANCE ON EDGE: Emmanuel Macron’s government is stepping up security ahead of another weekend of mass demonstrations, with around 70,000 police and gendarmes to be deployed across the country. Tens of thousands of protesters are expected in Orléans alone ahead of far-right leader Marine Le Pen officially launching her presidential campaign on Sunday, Paris Playbook reports.
BBC YOU IN COURT: U.S. President Donald Trump has been ordered by a judge to answer questions under oath in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC by Dec. 11 — though that date could slip, my stateside colleagues report.
BACK ONLINE: Trump said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has restored Ukraine’s access to the satellite service Starlink, though he declined to comment on a report in the Wall Street Journal that he called the billionaire this week to ask for the restrictions to be lifted. Despite Trump’s assurances, it’s still unclear whether the satellite service is in fact back to full speed in Ukraine, the AP reports.
DAY IN COURT: A Libyan man accused of bringing down an American airliner over Lockerbie in 1988 has lost his bid to have the case thrown out of court in the U.S. Abu Agila Mas’ud al-Marimi claimed he was the victim of an illegal rendition when he was transferred into American custody from Libya in 2022. But a U.S. judge ruled his trial could go ahead in Washington in January. Marimi denies the charges. The BBC has a write-up. 
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Paymaster General James Murray broadcast round: Times Radio (7.05 a.m.) … Sky Mornings (7.15 a.m.) … BBC Breakfast (7.30 a.m.) … LBC (7.50 a.m.) … Today (8.15 a.m.) … Good Morning Britain (8.35 a.m.) … GB News (9.05 a.m.). 
Deputy Conservative Chairman Matt Vickers broadcast round: Times Radio (7.45 a.m.) … GB News (8 a.m.) … Talk (8.20 a.m.) … LBC (8.45 a.m.) … Sky Mornings (9.15 a.m.). 
Also on BBC Breakfast: Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch (8.30 a.m.). 
Also on Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: Crossbench peer Shaista Gohir (8.20 a.m.). 
Also on Talk: Labour MP Jonathan Hinder (8.30 a.m.) … former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi (9 a.m.). 
Also on LBC News: Lib Dem MP Layla Moran (7.45 a.m.). 
POLITICO UK: ‘Andy Time’: Why Burnham’s budget isn’t going to deliver a revolution. 
Daily Express:  Now get tough to stop rise in ‘shocking’ attacks on women.
Daily Mail: Don’t panic!
Daily Mirror: Indefensible.
Daily Star: Ross: Traitors harder than any war zone. 
Financial Times: Barclays to axe 5,000 jobs this year in AI adoption and cost-cutting overhaul. 
Metro: Prepare for the worst.
The Daily Telegraph: Streeting: Stockpile food for cyber war. 
The Guardian: Stock up on supplies to survive 72 hours in a crisis, Britons told. 
The Independent: Prepare for food shortages in cyber attack, public told
The i Paper: Career plans for 14-year-olds set to be created in schools to help avoid benefits. 
The Times: Be prepared with 3 days of supplies, Britons told.
The Sun: Meghan Dad in child sex probe.
WESTMINSTER WEATHER: Heavy rain and a yellow Met Office warning for wind. It’s stormy out there. High of 13C and low of 7C. 
JOB NEWS: Peter Hyman, the former long-serving aide to Tony Blair, is returning to No. 10 to help chart the course of the next few years, according to the Spectator’s James Heale. He reports that Hyman will be focusing on the “10-year plan” and the PM’s long-term agenda. 
NEW GIG: Former No. 10 adviser Megan McCann has joined CT Group as a senior manager, based in Greater Manchester. 
CONGRATS TO: Adviser Sonia Khan and parliamentary staffer Dan Horrocks, who have welcomed their second baby, Jude.
SPILL THE BEANS: Popbitch is reporting that Tony Blair Institute staff have to sign NDAs for everything about the big man … including his diet. It raises interesting questions about what on earth the former PM is eating for lunch. Playbook approached the think tank for comment. 
HIRING: The Treasury is hiring a deputy director of devolution (a job share). 
WEEKEND POD PICKS: Labour MP Jess Phillips joins Tell Me Why, the new podcast offering from Prospect Magazine. She discusses the Cornell 7 case and talks about the conversations she’s had with Andy Burnham about the risks of tech … and Labour MP Henry Tufnell has some punchy things to say about Jackdaw on Whitehall Sources: “You can’t have colleagues from the south east of England, from urban centers, who don’t understand these communities coming in and opining on stuff that they have no experience of.” Who on earth could he be talking about?
WRITING PLAYBOOK PM: Emilio Casalicchio.
WRITING SUNDAY CRUNCH: Noah Keate.
WRITING PLAYBOOK MONDAY MORNING: Andrew McDonald.
BIRTHDAYS: East Wiltshire MP Danny Kruger … Doncaster Central MP Sally Jameson … retired Conservative peer Anthony Bamford … former U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Matthew Barzun … former Scottish Labour General Secretary James Kelly. 
Celebrating over the weekend: Kenilworth and Southam MP Jeremy Wright … Tatton MP Esther McVey … Stourbridge MP Cat Eccles … Labour peer Doreen Lawrence … GB News’ Political Editor Christopher Hope … Wall Street Journal Editor Emma Tucker … former Labour MP Simon Danczuk … former Cambridge University Chancellor David Sainsbury … former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull … former No. 10 chief of staff Eddie Lister … former Treasury Second Permanent Secretary Charles Roxburgh … the Financial Conduct Authority’s Stephen Braviner Roman … former Lincoln MP Karl McCartney … crossbench peer Bernard Hogan-Howe … the New Statesman’s Rachel Cunliffe. 
PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editors Dan Bloom, Alex Spence and James Panichi, reporter Megan McElroy and producers Dean Southwell and Hugh Kapernaros.
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