John Swinney to face FMQs following chancellor's UK Budget announcement

John Swinney will face First Minister’s Questions after Rachel Reeves made her major UK Budget announcement on Wednesday.

The chancellor announced that income tax and National Insurance thresholds in England will be frozen until April 2031, meaning more people will pay higher rates as salaries rise.

In Scotland, income tax thresholds are decided by Holyrood except for the personal allowance, so Scots won’t know until the Scottish Budget in January if there are any forthcoming changes to rates and bands.

However, opposition leaders will likely be keen to ask the First Minister whether or not he intends to follow in Reeves’ footsteps.

Swinney has previously been pressed over whether the Scottish Government will put up taxes in next year’s Holyrood budget.

A few weeks ago, Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay urged the SNP leader to “rule out any tax rises for workers in Scotland in his next budget”.

At the time, the First Minister would only say that his Government would “set out its tax plans in the budget in an orderly and rational fashion”.

Swinney could also be questioned over whether or not he will hike spending on social security after the chancellor committed to ending the two-child benefit cap in April.

The Scottish Government already announced plans to fully mitigate the impact of the cap, so Reeves’ decision, which she said is “fully costed and fully funded”, will free up funds in the Scottish budget for next year.

On Wednesday night, the First Minister said the money freed up as a result of the scrapped benefit cap will be used to fight poverty.

The First Minister could also face other questions about his Government’s budget plans.

FMQs will be broadcast from the Scottish Parliament at midday on Thursday.