Reader Q&A: Our money and economics correspondents answer your Budget 2026 questions – live

The 2026 budget has been revealed, and our money and economics correspondents Hilary Osborne and Heather Stewart are on hand to answer your questions. ManicMid asks how Labour would have fared in an election if they had campaigned on higher income taxes. Heather explains that while Labour strategists are adamant that they wouldn't have campaigned on higher income taxes, voters may have accepted the argument that taxes needed to rise to fund public services.

Another question is whether Labour should have broken their manifesto promises due to worse-than-expected public finances or the impact of the Iran war, which added £14bn to government interest costs this year alone. Hilary notes that while a £100 handout is similar to giving taxpayers money to energy companies, it doesn't solve the energy price problem for the UK, which is an energy importer.

Longer-term changes to bring down energy costs are unlikely to bear fruit for a long time, but the government has announced some measures to help, such as scrapping kerosene tariffs for two years and extending a VAT cut on energy, which will save the average household around £50 annually.