Healey's Budget on Wednesday: lower-income pensioners expected to be shielded from income tax; Burnham promises cash to end rough sleeping
Chancellor John Healey delivers his first Budget on Wednesday. Reports say the tax-free allowance for the poorest pensioners will rise to £13,036, and Andy Burnham is doubling spending on ending rough sleeping to almost £900m, with a Downing Street summit on Monday.
Left 0 · Centre-left 3 · Centre 2 · Centre-right 3 · Right 4
Blindspot for the left (barely covered by left-leaning outlets)
ContextSources by leanVideoDeep diveFollow the moneyMore coverage
How each side framed it
Left-leaning outlets
Spending on homelessness: Burnham 'to double spending' to end rough sleeping (Guardian); the i reports a proposed green fuel tax.
Centre outlets
Centre-rated outlets headline it: “Burnham promises Budget cash to end rough sleeping” (Financial Times); “Four ways Labour could raise money in the Budget without hiking income tax” (BBC News).
Right-leaning outlets
Tax: Healey 'set to shield pensioners from income tax' (Telegraph, GB News); 'dozens of small tax rises' (Daily Express, opinion).
Context
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Sources by lean
Balanced: the same number of articles from the left, the centre and the right (up to 3 each). The bar above still counts every rated outlet we found. Bias and factual ratings come from Media Bias/Fact Check. How we balance · All ratings.
Left 2
Centre 2
- BBC News
Four ways Labour could raise money in the Budget without hiking income tax - Financial Times
Burnham promises Budget cash to end rough sleeping (paywalled or blocks bots)
Right 2
Showing 2 from each side of 12 rated outlets (L 3 / C 2 / R 7). Capped at 2 because that is all we found on the thinnest side. More coverage
Video
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Deep dive
A short prompt for thinking it through. We write a fuller side-by-side deep dive for the day's biggest stories.
The paradox: Both sides cover the same Budget but through different lines: spending on the left, tax on the right.
What each side may be protecting: Left: people sleeping rough and public services. Right: pensioners and taxpayers.
A question to hold: Shared test: what the Budget does for the poorest pensioners and people on the street.
Try it: open one left and one right article in Sources by lean and note what each takes for granted.
Follow the money
Not yet researched. We haven't yet looked at who gains or loses financially from this story, or who funds the main voices on each side. When we do, we check company filings, the Electoral Commission donations register, lobbying registers, annual reports, InfluenceMap and OpenSecrets, and we apply the same checks to every side. How we follow the money.
Who owns or funds the outlets covering this story (13 outlets)
| Outlet | Lean | Ownership & funding (MBFC) |
|---|---|---|
| The Guardian | Centre-left | The Guardian and its companion publication, the Sunday newspaper The Observer, are owned by Guardian Media Group plc (GMG). Scott Trust Limited was created in 1936 to ensure the editorial independence of the publications and owns Guardian Media Group plc (GMG). source |
| The Independent | Centre-left | The Independent is owned by Independent Print Limited, a company owned by the Lebedev family (Alexander Lebedev and his son Evgeny Lebedev). In 2017, Saudi Businessman Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel bought a 30% stake in the Independent online newspaper. Advertising and subscription generate revenue for the paper..push({}); source |
| i (inews) | Centre-left | DMG Media owns iNews, which publishes the Daily Mail and The Metro. Advertising, sponsored content, and subscriptions generate revenue. source |
| BBC News | Centre | The BBC operates under a Royal Charter. Oversight is managed by the BBC Board, and regulatory authority rests with Ofcom. source |
| Financial Times | Centre | The Financial Times is owned by The Nikkei, a Japanese news and financial information company that publishes the leading financial paper, The Nikkei. The FT generates revenue through subscriptions, a hard paywall, and advertising..push({}); source |
| Evening Standard | Centre-right | The newspaper is majority-owned by Russian businessman and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev and the Daily Mail and General Trust. Revenue is generated through advertising. source |
| ITV News | Centre-right | No ownership data found |
| The Times | Centre-right | The Times and Sunday Times is owned by News UK (News Corp UK & Ireland Limited), which American News Corp owns. The owner and Executive Chairman of News Corp are Rupert Murdoch. Revenue is derived from advertising and subscription fees. source |
| Daily Express | Right | The Daily Express is owned by Reach plc (formerly known as Trinity Mirror), a British newspaper, magazine, and digital publisher. Subscriptions, newsstand sales, and advertising generate revenue. source |
| GB News | Right | GB News lacks transparency as they do not disclose ownership. A search reveals that London-based ALL Perspectives Ltd owns GB News. According to Reuters, the television channel “secured millions of dollars from investors such as Discovery Inc, Legatum and hedge fund manager Paul Marshall. source |
| The Sun | Right | The Sun is published by the News Group Newspapers division of News UK, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. The paper generates revenue through advertising, newsstand sales, and subscriptions. source |
| The Telegraph | Right | Telegraph Media Group (TMG) owns The Telegraph, which is owned by Press Acquisitions Ltd., which in turn is owned by Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay. In 2004, Twin Brothers Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay acquired the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph from the Canadian media company Hollinger Inc. for £665 million. For a complete list of Board members, see here. source |
| Daily Record | Not rated | No ownership data found |