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Politics latest: Chancellor vows to end use of hotels for asylum seekers as she unveils spending review

Rachel Reeves is outlining 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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Watch live: Chancellor delivers spending review
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Bus fares to remain capped at 拢3 until 'at least' March 2027, Reeves announces

The chancellor confirms that bus fares outside of London will remain capped at 拢3 until "at least March 2027".

This is an extension of a scheme due to finish at the end of the year. 

Rachel Reeves says she knows that "for many people, the cost of living remains a constant challenge".

She also announces the government is capping the cost of school uniforms.

Reeves points to the government's U-turn on cuts to winter fuel payments (though she doesn't use that phrase), the expansion of the warm homes plan and upgrades for millions of homes.

She says: "I am determined to do everything in my power to put more money in people鈥檚 pockets. To give people security and control in their lives. To make working people better off. And to show them that this government - this Labour Government  is on their side."

Police spending power gets a boost - and 14,000 new prison places will be funded

Police spending power will increase by an average of 2.3% per year during this spending review period, Rachel Reeves says. 

The chancellor says this works out at more than 拢2bn and will help put 13,000 extra police officers, PCSOs and special constables across England and Wales. 

The government will also spend 拢7bn on 14,000 new prison places. 

A further 拢700m per year will be spent on the reform and probation system. 

Reeves looks to see off threat of Reform in devolved nations

The chancellor now turns to the devolved nations.

Here are the figures: 拢52bn for Scotland, 拢20bn for Northern Ireland by the end of the spending review period, and 拢23bn for Wales.

She continues: "Having heard representations from many Welsh Labour colleagues and because I know the obligation we owe to our industrial communities, I am providing a multi-year settlement of 拢118m to keep coal tips safe in Wales."

It follows warning that coal tips in the country have become unsafe, with the Welsh Government (also Labour) warning it couldn't guarantee lives wouldn't be lost without investment.

It is no coincidence that Labour is feeling under pressure from Reform in Wales, who launched their campaign to win control of the Senedd in Port Talbot this week, and who pledged to attempt to reopen the town's blast furnaces. 

Nigel Farage's party also performed well in a by-election in Scotland last week, in a warning sign for Labour.

Here's the funding for transport

The chancellor moves on to transport, announcing several funding packages for different aspects of the countries train network. 

Rachel Reeves says there will be a "four year settlement" for the Transport for London and a "fourfold increase" in local transport grants by the end of this parliament. 

She says the government is also investing in major rail projects, including 拢3.5bn for the Transpennine Route Upgrade - the "backbone of rail travel in the North", linking York, Leeds, and Manchester. 

To connect Oxford and Cambridge, she says there will be a further 拢2.5bn for the continued delivery of East-West rail.

We've already heard about the 拢3 bus fare cap being extended to 2027.

Analysis: No austerity, but voters will have to be patient for signs spending has paid off

Reeves says this spending review does not signal a return to austerity - but in reality, unprotected departments and welfare will be squeezed.

She trumpeted a 2.3% increase in departmental budgets, but with well above that average for the big winners - defence and the NHS. The funding settlement for prisons, social care and policing still looks tight.

The chancellor condemns the Conservatives' austerity as a "destructive choice for the fabric of our society" and "for our economy".

"My choices are different," she says, though the 拢113bn she's outlined in capital spending - a large chunk of it for housing - is for big projects which will take a decade to realise. 

This is not cuts on the scale of the coalition in 2010-15, where unprotected departments saw 40% cuts to budgets.

But it comes after years of hollowing out and leaves questions over whether the public's day-to-day experience of public services will be improved within the next three years. 

Chancellor unveils 'biggest cash injection into social housing' in 50 years

The chancellor turns to housing. 

Rachel Reeves announces "the biggest cash injection into social housing in 50 years".

She says this has been "neglected for too long - but not by this Labour government".

What does this actually mean? 

Reeves explains: "A new Affordable Homes Programme 鈥� in which I am investing 拢39bn over the next decade. 

"Direct government funding that will support housebuilding especially for social rent, and I am pleased to report that towns and cities including Blackpool, Preston, Sheffield, and Swindon already have plans to bring forward bids to build new houses."

Reeves credits Angela Rayner and says the deputy prime minister (also the housing minister) will lead on this investment.

拢2bn investment in AI

The chancellor has backed "home-grown AI" with a 拢2bn investment. 

Rachel Reeves says the technology has the potential to "solve diverse and daunting challenges" and create "good jobs". 

She also confirms research and development funding will  rise to a "record high" of over 拢22bn per year by the end of this parliament.

Analysis: On a big day for Labour, chancellor can't resist dig at Reform

Rachel Reeves has started her statement by saying the decisions being announced today will lead to the "renewal of Britain" - and that people will feel it in their "everyday lives, jobs, and high streets".

After the standard attack on the Conservatives, saying they made the wrong choices in government and were wrong to oppose her choices on tax, she went on an extended riff about Nigel Farage - whose party has just five MPs.

She reminded colleagues: "Some of us are old enough to remember when the honourable member for Clacton described Liz Truss's mini budget as 'the best Conservative budget since the 1980s'.

We'll see how much of today's choices and language reflect concerns about Reform's position in the polls. 

London MPs have already privately been grumbling about the focus on the north and Midlands in pre-budget spending announcements. 

Government to end use of hotels to house asylum seekers by 2029

Rachel Reeves says the government will stop housing asylum seekers in hotels by the end of this parliament - which is due to finish in 2029.

The chancellor says she is also "tackling the asylum backlog".

She says: "The party opposite left behind a broken system: billions of pounds of taxpayers鈥� money spent on housing asylum seekers in hotels leaving people in limbo and shunting the cost of failure on to local communities. 

"We won't let that stand."

The chancellor says funding she has announced today, including from the transformation fund, will also cut the asylum backlog, see more appeal cases heard and "return people who have no right to be here".

This will save the taxpayer 拢1bn a year, she says. 

拢11bn increase in defence spending

Defence spending will increase by 拢11bn, the chancellor says. 

By the end of April 2027, Rachel Reeves reaffirms that it will rise to 2.6% of GDP. 

On top of that, there will be a 拢600m uplift for security and intelligence agencies. 

"A new era in the threats we face demands a new era for defence and security," she says, echoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's announcement on defence spending earlier this month. 

"We will make Britain a defence industrial superpower. With the jobs, the skills and the pride that comes with that," she adds.