Could It Have Been Bolder? Reflections on the Chancellor’s Spending Review
The 2025 Spending Review landed with a promise of stability and security, but critics may be left asking: could it have been bolder?
Headlined by major investments in defence, nuclear energy, and the NHS, the Chancellor presented the review as a forward-facing, pragmatic plan for growth and resilience. Yet, despite a substantial £113 billion in capital investment, many of the flagship announcements had already been trailed or borrowed from previous governments. The scale and ambition of this long-awaited review felt marginal, not transformational.
A highlight was the defence settlement: £11 billion more for the armed forces, £600 million for security agencies, and sweeping upgrades to munitions and nuclear submarine capabilities. Given the geopolitical climate, this was timely and necessary. Energy also received a major boost, with £30 billion for nuclear, positioning the UK at the heart of next-gen clean power through Sizewell C, SMRs, and fusion. On these fronts, the review showed strategic clarity.
But elsewhere, ambition fell short. Education, for instance, will see just a 0.4% annual increase. Though schools will benefit from investment in buildings and nurseries, the day-to-day uplift is modest in the face of soaring SEND spending and accounting for uplifts in teachers pay. Similarly, adult social care received no commitments and no mention, despite it being one of the biggest issues of our time.
The U-turn on Winter Fuel Payment cuts may well have been welcomed by Labour backbenchers, but at what cost? We don’t have clarity on where this funding will come from and the Chancellor has set a dangerous precedent that the Conservatives failed to learn – that sending your MPs out to defend something you are about to reverse damages trust. And that loss of trust is irreversible.
This was Labour’s third fiscal event, but was it recognisably Labour? The distinctive social ambition is nothing akin to Gordon Brown’s era-defining announcements. With no substantial change in overall strategy, and many measures left uncosted, the review feels more technocratic than ideological.
In sum, while the Spending Review was serious in tone and broadly competent in content, it ultimately hedged on boldness. The Chancellor understands that the public aren’t yet feeling the benefits of any economic improvement, but she needs to also understand fiscal events like this can easily go unnoticed. It remains to be seen if the public will recognise today’s spending review as a step in the right direction.
