UK Conservatives Urge Spending Cuts Ahead of Labour Budget

Britain's opposition Conservative Party on Monday called on the Labour government to cut spending and borrowing in next week's budget, as leader Kemi Badenoch set out her party's economic approach in an effort to win back voters' confidence. Finance minister John Healey delivers his first budget on October 28, having pledged to stick to fiscal rules limiting borrowing while indicating measures to ease living costs and stimulate growth. Healey has left the door open to tax rises on the banking sector, though some decisions, including a broad plan to fund defence spending increases, are not due until next year. Badenoch called for immediate welfare cuts to fund defence and warned higher bank taxes would harm growth, saying the government was "putting off big decisions." The Conservatives lost the 2024 election after 14 years in government marked by slow growth and rising borrowing. Labour currently leads opinion polls ahead of Reform UK before an election due by mid-2029.