Rachel Reeves boosts NHS and housing as some budgets squeezed

Rachel Reeves has announced an extra £29bn per year for the NHS in England, along with funding boosts for defence and housing, as she set out the government’s spending plans until the end of the decade.

The chancellor also promised more money for AI and transport projects, saying “renewing Britain” was at the heart of her plans.

But the Spending Review also saw some departments squeezed in day-to-day spending, including the Foreign Office and the environment department.

Reeves said the review would deliver security, economic growth and “an NHS fit for the future”, but Conservative shadow chancellor Mel Stride said it was a “spend now, tax later review”.

He predicted “a cruel summer of speculation” ahead of the autumn Budget,…