Good afternoon from The Courier’s politics team, here are your top 5 takeaway lines from today’s Budget.
1 – Levelling Up
Major doubts have been cast over some Levelling Up projects awarded in Scotland over the past year.
The UK Government said it is “minded to cancel” awards which are “unfunded”.
Perth and Kinross Council bosses told The Courier they understand £5 million awarded in the spring will be axed.
And Dunfermline fears the loss of £5 million awarded in May.
Labour says support will not be withdrawn for projects which are already under way, which is good news for Dundee and Angus.
Dundee was awarded £20 million in May to regenerate the city centre, help build a new college campus and for a major museum project.
Arbroath was to be given £20 million over 10 years as part of a towns transformation project.
Both were outlined in newly badged government funding plans as part of the budget.
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray told us: “There will be some positive news and some stuff that will either be moved into the further spending review or indeed cancelled.
“There will be a big value for money exercise alongside that.”
Read more on that full story here.
2 – Funding for Holyrood
The UK Government announced an additional £3.4 billion in cash for Holyrood.
Ms Reeves called this as “the largest real-terms funding settlement” in the past 25 years of devolution.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn warned Labour would “impose billions of pounds of austerity cuts”.
But the chancellor insisted there would be “no return to austerity” while outlining her budget.
Ms Reeves also said the government will proceed with plans for a “growth deal” to benefit Argyll and Bute’s regional economy.
Watch this space for the Scottish budget decisions in December now the funding is clear.
3 – Taxes and minimum wage increase
Chancellor Ms Reeves announced taxes will rise by a total of £40 billion.
Labour says this is necessary to tackle a £22 billion “black hole”, a claim the Tories contest.
Employers’ national insurance contributions will be hiked to 15%, an increase of 1.2 percentage points.
The threshold at which companies start paying this will also fall from £9,100 to £5,000.
It’s hoped this will bring in £25 billion by 2029.
Fuel duty will be frozen for another year, including the existing 5p cut.
Tax rises will also help fund an increase to the UK’s living wage – which will rise by 6.7% to £12.21.
4 – Alcohol mixed message
Ms Reeves revealed the draught duty on alcohol will be cut by 1.7 – effectively cutting the price of a pint by 1p.
By contrast alcohol duty will rise along with the retail price index next year in what will come as a major blow to Scotland’s whisky industry.
The Tories warned this would come as a “double whammy” for the sector along with the SNP’s minimum unit pricing policy.
The Scotch Whisky Association called for the Chancellor to reverse the 10.1% duty increase announced last August by the Conservative government.
5 – Windfall tax increase
Labour stood by plans to increase the windfall tax on energy firms from 35% to 38%, increasing the headline tax rate to 78%.
It comes despite longstanding opposition from the sector in the north-east.
The levy was first introduced by the Tories in 2022 after a U-turn from then Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who had previously opposed it.
The SNP and Conservatives have spoken out against increasing the current rate.
Conversation