LONDON: British finance minister Rachel Reeves’ key decision in next week’s multi-year spending review will be how much to spend on health care versus other public services, the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said on Sunday.
Reeves is due to set out day-to-day spending limits for other government departments on June 11 which will run through to the end of March 2029 — almost until the end of the Labour government’s expected term in office.
Britain has held periodic government spending reviews since 1998, but this is the first since 2015 to cover multiple years, other than one in 2021 focused on the COVID pandemic.
The non-partisan IFS said this spending review could prove to be “one of the most significant domestic policy events” for the current Labour government.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement in February that defense spending would reach 2.5 percent of national income by 2027 had already used the room for further growth in public investment created in Reeves’ October budget, it said.
“Simultaneously prioritising additional investments in public services, net zero and growth-friendly areas ... will be impossible,” said Bee Boileau, a research economist at the IFS.
Non-investment public spending is intended to rise by 1.2 percent a year on top of inflation between 2026-27 and 2028-29, according to budget plans which Reeves set out in October — half the pace of spending growth in the current and previous financial year.
The IFS sees no scope for this to be topped up, as Reeves’ budget rules leave almost no room for extra borrowing and tax rises are now limited to her annual budget statement.
This forces Reeves and Starmer to choose between the demands of the public health care system — plagued by long waiting times and a slump in productivity since the COVID-19 pandemic — and other stretched areas.
In past spending reviews, annual health care spending has typically risen 2 percentage points faster than total spending.
If that happened this time — equivalent to an annual increase of 3.4 percent — spending in other departments would have to fall by 1 percent a year in real terms, the IFS forecast.
Raising health care spending at roughly the same pace as other areas — a 1.2 percent rise — would only just keep pace with an aging population and not allow any reversal of recent years’ deterioration in service quality, the IFS said.
Spending cuts could be achieved by scaling back services provided by the state, reducing public-sector employment or real-terms cuts in public-sector pay, it added.
But it warned the government needed to be specific about how it planned to make cuts, or risk financial markets losing confidence in its ability to keep borrowing under control.
The review does not cover spending on pensions or other benefits, which the government is tackling separately.
UK faces choice next week between health and other spending, IFS think tank warns
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UK faces choice next week between health and other spending, IFS think tank warns
- The non-partisan IFS said this spending review could prove to be “one of the most significant domestic policy events” for the current Labour government
‘Hero’ who disarmed Bondi gunman recovers in hospital as donations pour in
- Sydney resident Ahmed Al-Ahmed seized rifle from one of the gunmen
- Ahmed was shot in hand and arm his family says
- Australia PM said Ahmed showed ‘best of humanity’
SYDNEY: Donations for a Sydney man who wrestled a gun from one of the alleged attackers during a mass shooting at Bondi Beach have surged past A$1.1 million ($744,000), as he recovers in hospital after surgery for bullet wounds.
Forty-three-year-old Ahmed Al-Ahmed, a Muslim father-of-two, hid behind parked cars before charging at one of the gunmen from behind, seizing his rifle and knocking him to the ground.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Ahmed’s bravery saved lives.
“What we’ve seen in the last 24 hours was the worst of humanity in a terrorist act. But we also saw an example of the best of humanity in Ahmed Al Ahmed running toward danger, putting his own life at risk,” Albanese told state broadcaster ABC News.
He was shot twice by a second perpetrator, Albanese said. Ahmed’s family said he was hit in the hand and arm.
Australian police on Monday said a 50-year-old father and his 24-year-old son carried out the attack at a Jewish celebration on Sunday afternoon, killing 15 people in the country’s worst mass shooting in almost 30 years.
HAILED A HERO FOR DISARMING THE GUNMAN
Ahmed’s father, Mohamed Fateh al Ahmed, told ABC News in an interview that his son was an Australian citizen and sells fruits and vegetables.
“My son is a hero. He served in the police, he has the passion to defend people.”
“When he saw people lying on the ground and the blood, quickly his conscience pushed him to attack one of the terrorists and take away his weapon,” Mohamed Fateh said.
Jozay Alkanji, Ahmed’s cousin, said he had had initial surgery and may need more.
AHMED PICTURED IN HOSPITAL
Tributes have poured in from leaders both abroad and at home.
Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales, where Sydney is located, said in a social media post he visited Ahmed at St. George Hospital and conveyed the gratitude of people across the state.
“Ahmed is a real-life hero,” his post said. “Thank you, Ahmed.” A photo showed Minns at his bedside, and Ahmed propped on pillows with his left arm in a cast.
US President Donald Trump called Ahmed “a very, very brave person” who saved many lives.
A GoFundMe campaign set up for Ahmed has raised more than A$1.1 million within one day. Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman was the largest donor, contributing A$99,999 and sharing the fundraiser on his X account.
SUPPORTERS THANK AHMED FOR SAVING LIVES
Outside St. George Hospital, strangers came to show their support.
Misha and Veronica Pochuev left flowers for Ahmed with their seven-year-old daughter, Miroslava.
“My husband is Russian, my father is Jewish, my grandpa is Muslim. This is not only about Bondi, this is about every person,” Veronica said.
Yomna Touni, 43, stayed at the hospital for hours to offer assistance on behalf of a Muslim-run charity also raising funds for Ahmed.
“The intention is to raise as much money as possible for his speedy recovery,” she said. ($1 = 1.5047 Australian dollars) (Writing by Praveen Menon; Editing by Michael Perry, Saad Sayeed, Alexandra Hudson)
