Keir Starmer to face PMQs ahead of major spending review

Keir Starmer is set to face Prime Minister’s Questions ahead of a major spending review on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister will be questioned by opposition leaders immediately before chancellor Rachel Reeves unveils the UK Labour Government’s £113bn spending plans over the next three years.

Reeves is expected to announce significant increases in funding for the NHS, defence and education.

Funding is also expected to be confirmed for the Acorn Project, a major carbon capture and storage scheme in Aberdeenshire.

However, these increases could come at the expense of other public services or government departments.

For example, the policing budget is expected to rise above inflation, but this could come with cuts elsewhere in the Home Office.

Ahead of the announcement, the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that any NHS funding rise above 2.5% could mean real-terms cuts for other departments or tax increases in the autumn budget.

PMQs also comes just days after Starmer’s Labour Government confirmed it was planning a partial U-turn on the highly unpopular decision to cut winter fuel payments for nine million pensioners last year.

On Monday, Reeves assured the country that more pensioners will receive winter fuel payments from this winter as part of the Labour Government’s £1.25bn U-turn.

All pensioners in England and Wales with an income of or below £35,000 per year will benefit from the revised inter fuel payment – equivalent to around nine million people.