From alcohol to education: A Birmingham student’s guide to Labour’s new budget

As the first Labour budget in 15 years and the first budget ever delivered by a female chancellor, Rachel Reeves certainly felt the pressure on Wednesday 30th October when outlining where Britain’s pennies were going to be spent.

While mainstream media focuses on the tax rises hitting big businesses, The Birmingham Tab is here to provide a more student-centric approach, guiding you through the policies that really matter.

Alcohol

Arguably the most important policy for students, Reeves delivers a mixed result, stating alcohol tax will rise in line with inflation (meaning Stefanoff will cost more and still taste bad). However, it’s not all bad news, with the Chancellor also announcing a cut in draught duty by 1.7 percent. Put simply, a penny off a pub pint! Not quite as good as the £2.25 MiXR deal at The Goose, but we’ll take what we can get.

Education

Despite Reeves’ budget focusing on increases in funding to schools, it has now become apparent from a speech given by the Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, that tuition fees are set to rise from £9,250 to £9,535. While Phillipson claims this will not affect how we repay our loans, it marks the first increase for tuition fees in eight years and comes at a time where the fear of mounting student debts is deterring more and more young people from university.

It’s truly time to put the £9,250 tuition fee to good use and, at least in my case, nap in the library.

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Yet, this increase leads to a higher maximum maintenance load available for students, translating to an extra £267 for those living at home and £317 for those away from home. I’d say we could probably use that extra hundred to pay for half-price FAB drinks but, let’s be honest, I’ll be using that to contribute toward my third-year house deposit.

Tobacco

As some grieve over the ban of disposable vapes by June 2025, Labour delivers another blow to vapers with a new tax of £2.20 per 10ml of e-cigarette liquid. It’s safe to say some will be rethinking buying a cheeky vape on Bristol Road. As many students profusely say they are not a vaper if they don’t ever buy one, it’s worth questioning what will happen to the booming economy of Bristol Road’s vape shops. Through these measures, the government is penalising vapes in the same way as tobacco, which some experts have condemned as discouraging those who vape as an alternative to smoking.

One thing is clear though: to those who “borrow” their friends’ vapes at sports night smokers, be careful as they may soon ask you to cough up for the privilege.

Housing

The government is set to spend £5 billion on housing in attempts to increase the supply of affordable housing. Indeed, this speaks to a key part of Labour’s election manifesto to build 1.5 million new homes, which means even more properties for Oakman’s to drive frightened freshers around – it’s a canon event.

As more student properties are built further away from campus, I truly cannot wait to spend £140 a week on a house advertised as “close to the university,” but which is actually a forty-minute walk away!

Roads

Finally, in a move to solve Britain’s biggest issue, Reeves has pledged £500 million to repair potholes. Let’s all get our crystals and sage out for this one, as Selly Oak’s potholes are not just “holes”, they are ditches. I’m surprised we haven’t lost freshers in the holes on Selly Oak’s roads yet but with them potentially getting fixed, it looks like Brum students will have to find something new to complain about.