The three financial ghosts haunting the Budget debate

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"As the UK prepares for the budget announcement, familiar debates are taking shape. Should Chancellor Rachel Reeves cut welfare spending? Or reform the triple lock on state pensions? Other debates focus on revenue: how should she raise money without breaking Labour's manifesto promise not to increase taxes on working people? But these discussions are being held in a strange vacuum, where the three enormous expenditures that led the UK to this point are not mentioned."

"COVID debt, energy support schemes and Brexit have fundamentally shaped the UK's financial woes. Yet voters and politicians alike seem determined not to talk about them. Instead, they're treated as shocks imposed on the country, although they involved hugely consequential political choices. Gloomy vibes accompany this Advent budget, and Britain's awkward collective amnesia is preventing the country from learning the lessons needed for future crises and from talking honestly about the best route forward."

The Independent covers major issues from reproductive rights to climate change and Big Tech with on-the-ground journalism and investigative work, funded by reader donations. Donations allow continued reporting that speaks to both sides and keeps content free without paywalls, supported by those who can afford it. As the UK readies a budget, public debate centers on welfare cuts, pension reforms and revenue without acknowledging three large expenditures: COVID debt, energy support schemes and Brexit. Those three factors have fundamentally shaped the UK's finances, and treating them as external shocks prevents learning lessons and honest planning for future crises.

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