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UK finance minister says ‘fiscal discipline’ will form core of budget

By Thomson Reuters Sep 28, 2026 | 6:45 AM

LIVERPOOL, England, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Britain’s finance minister John Healey said he will put fiscal ​discipline at the core ‌of his first budget on October 28, as he highlighted how the cost of servicing the country’s high ‌debt ​levels was diverting ⁠money from public ⁠services.

“Through the core of the budget I deliver a month today will be fiscal discipline to ​give families and businesses a bit of breathing space, ⁠to drive good growth ⁠and jobs in more ​places, and to write a new ​chapter of hope for Britain’s ‌future,” he told the Labour Party conference on Monday.

He said that high debt levels were “an ⁠affront” to Labour Party’s values.

“I tell you, these levels of debt are… an ⁠affront to ‌our values, and ⁠that’s why the prime minister ​and ‌I are in lockstep ​that we ⁠will meet the fiscal rules,” he said.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout, Andrew MacAskill and Sam Tabahriti writing by Sarah Young; editing by ​William James)