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Politics latest: Chancellor delivers big money to NHS as she unveils spending review

Rachel Reeves has outlined her long-awaited spending review, setting budgets for government departments up to the next election. Watch and follow live coverage throughout the day in the Politics Hub.

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Rachel Reeves has delivered her spending review, setting out each government department's budget for the coming years.

Here are her headline announcements:

  • NHS: The health service gets 拢29bn for day-to-day spending - a 3% rise for each year until the next election;
  • Defence: Spending will rise from 2.3% of GDP to 2.6% by 2027 - that's a 拢11bn uplift, with 拢600m for security and intelligence agencies;
  • Border security: The use of hotels to house asylum seekers will end by 2029, and there will be 拢280m more per year for the Border Security Command, which will help combat illegal immigration;
  • Energy: Some 拢14.2bn is being poured into the Sizewell C nuclear power station, part of a 拢30bn investment in nuclear energy;
  • Science and tech: Research and development funding will hit 拢22bn - a record high - by the end of the parliament, with AI plans getting 拢2bn;
  • Housing: Social and affordable housing will get 拢39bn - the biggest cash investment for 50 years;
  • Transport: 拢15bn for new rail, tram, and bus networks in the North and the West Midlands, a new rail line between Liverpool and Manchester, and a four-year settlement for TfL, plus the 拢3 bus fare cap extended to 2027;
  • Nations: Scotland gets 拢52bn, Northern Ireland 拢20bn, and Wales 拢23bn, including notably for coal tips;
  • Prisons: 14,000 new prison places will be funded with a 拢7bn injection;
  • Police: 13,000 more police officers will be paid for with 拢2bn;
  • Education: Free school meals extended to 500,000 children, while the extra 拢4.5bn per year will also go on fixing classrooms and rebuilding schools.
Ex-Reform chair to stand for parliament at next opportunity (if Reform are likely to win)

While the spending review was going on, our political correspondent Mhari Aurora heard of an interesting development at Reform UK.

She has found out former chair Zia Yusuf is planning to stand as an MP.

Mhari has been told Yusuf will stand for a parliamentary seat at the next general election, or in the next by-election the party thinks it can win.

Yusuf has become a familiar spokesperson and outrider for the party, often speaking to cameras instead of some of the party's more controversial MPs.

Schools budget 'looks pretty tight'

The schools budget set out by the chancellor in her spending review seems "pretty tight", the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said. 

Speaking to Sky News, Paul Johnson said "the growth is very, very slight and a chunk of that will be used up in the free school meals plans." 

He explains that this is going to cause more issues around teacher pay. 

Teachers have been arguing about pay in recent years, with several strikes taking place. 

Watch: Highlights from chancellor's spending review

Missed Rachel Reeves delivering the spending review and need a highlights reel?

We've got you covered - you can watch the most significant moments below:

Lib Dems demand more cash for social care

The Liberal Democrats have responded to the chancellor's spending review.

Daisy Cooper criticised Rachel Reeves for not announcing significantly more cash for councils to fix social care.

The party's Treasury spokesperson said: "Putting more money into the NHS without fixing social care is like pouring water into a leaky bucket."

Cooper called the review a "missed opportunity" and also repeated the party's call to create closer relationships with the EU. 

The Lib Dems have been campaigning for a bespoke UK-EU customs union. They say this would be the "best way to improve people's living standards and unlock billions of pounds".

Khan criticises spending review, saying more money needed for London

Sir Sadiq Khan has welcomed extra money for transport and housing announced in the spending review, but says he is "concerned" by the government's plans.

The mayor of London said he is worried the spending review could "result in insufficient funding for the Met and fewer police officers". 

He added: "It鈥檚 also disappointing that there is no commitment today from the Treasury to invest in the new infrastructure London needs."

The Labour politician warned if the government doesn't invest in infrastructure projects in London, then "we will not be able to build the numbers of new affordable homes Londoners need".

Don't 'level down London', chancellor warned

Building 1.5m new homes by 2029 is one of the Labour government's key targets, and Khan thinks projects such as extending the DLR will help unlock more development.

He said he would "continue to make the case" to the government for more funding for the capital.

"The way to level up other regions will never be to level down London", he concluded.

Watch: Ed Conway on the big picture of the spending review

Our data and economics editor Ed Conway has been crunching the numbers from the government's spending review. 

Health and social care is the sector receiving the most funding, followed by education and defence in day-to-day spending. 

Science, innovation, and technology will see the biggest increase in funding by 2028/29, followed by health.

While the Home Office has come out as a "loser", with its funding falling. 

Watch Ed's full analysis below鈥�

The Home Office is a big loser in chancellor's spending review

By Mollie Malone, news correspondent

In the justice world, the money feels a bit meh.

That's because nothing is that new - the chancellor has essentially dressed up the status quo and re-announced it. 

There's 拢7bn to build 14,000 new prison spaces, but that ambition was already there. In fact, it's continuity (and what's left to go) from the last government's target of building 20,000 new spaces.

The 拢700m for the probation service will be welcome, but it was already announced at the sentencing review a few weeks ago. 

It's baked in, if you like. And remember, we're about to see a load of pressures on the probation service as ministers look to make reforms to sentencing policy to send thousands fewer people to prison.

And of course, that brings me to the police, who will be needing to manage the streets as offenders are managed in the community, rather than behind bars. 

The Home Office is a big loser in all this, facing a cut to its spending of 2.2%. For a criminal justice system creaking at every corner, that will matter to the justice department - they need to all work together. 

Labour have put their eggs in the NHS basket

Our political editor Beth Rigby says Rachel Reeves tried to use the spending review to reframe the work of the Labour government so far. 

The chancellor set out that Labour's first year in government was about fixing the economy, and now is hoping to frame the upcoming years as about growing it

Beth also picks up on Reeves' own acknowledgement that not enough people across the UK are feeling tangible improvements to their lives.

She says it's interesting that when the chancellor did make political attacks, these blows were largely rained down on Reform UK rather than the Conservatives - though she of course trashed their record, too.

The winners and the losers 

Turning to the numbers themselves, Beth says that "the big winner is clearly the NHS".

But the chancellor's 3% uplift for the health service every year will mean that "other budgets are suffering", Beth says. 

The Home Office seems to be having a real-terms cut, down 1.7%. She says Yvette Cooper's department is "really being squeezed".

Beth also points out the Department of Education's core school budget is only rising by 0.4% over the next three years, below the average increase.

Another area she thinks could be taking a hit is local government, and Beth wonders whether spending increases will be pushed back on to the public through council tax increases. 

Beth says: "This is a government and chancellor that have put their eggs in the NHS basket.

"They have decided NHS waiting lists and improving the national health service is clearly where they want to put their money in order to try to prove at the time of the election that those services are improving. 

"That is the choice Rachel Reeves has made."

Analysis: Tories think they can be party of fiscal discipline once again

But what about the tax rises?

Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, has labelled this a "spend now tax later" spending review  - and warned Rachel Reeves will have to find more tax rises to fund it in the autumn budget.

Seizing on the U-turn on winter fuel, he said Reeves wouldn't be able to push through spending cuts to fund today's economic commitments, despite Labour's majority. 

Prepare for Reeves' opponents to spend the coming months saying all the borrowing implied in today's capital spending plans will need to be paid for later.

The Conservatives see an opportunity, given Nigel Farage's conversion to ditching the two-child benefit cap and dizzying spending pledges, to be the party pushing fiscal discipline. 

Send in your questions about the spending review

Rachel Reeves has delivered the spending review - with big cash injections for the NHS, defence, and transport.

Got a question about her decisions and what it all means for you?

Our experts are on hand to answer them:

You can submit a question using the comment form above, and we'll be answering them at the link below from around 4pm.