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Autumn Budget 2025: what would you do to tax and spend?

Nesta at Labour Party Conference
28 Sep 2025 18:30 – 20:00
Arena Room Tees, ACC Liverpool (secure zone)

This event took place on Sunday 28 September. You can watch the recording below.

Event recording

The opinions expressed in this event recording are those of the speaker. For more information, view our full statement on external contributors.

Should the Chancellor raise taxes in the budget and, if so, which ones?

Nesta and the Institute for Fiscal Studies have developed Be the Chancellor - an interactive tool that allows anyone to confront the big public finance choices.

We’ll be at the Labour Party Conference to explore the key choices and trade-offs facing the government, hosting an expert panel with Tim Leunig, Nesta’s Chief Economist, Yuan Yang, MP for Earley and Woodley, Chris Curtis, MP for Milton Keynes North and Jill Rutter, Senior Research Fellow, UK in a Changing Europe. Joe Owen, Director of Policy and Government Partnerships, Nesta will chair the panel.

Join us to explore priorities for the budget and how to balance growth, spending, and fiscal responsibility at a time when no choices are easy.

This event is for policymakers, economists and those interested in fiscal policy.

This event is taking place on Sunday 28 September in Arena Room Tees at the ACC Liverpool (secure zone) from 18:30-20:00 BST. Add this event to your calendar.

 Stay in the loop - join our WhatsApp channel for reminders about this event and the latest updates from Nesta at party conferences and more. Follow our channel.

Speakers

Joe Owen headshot

Joe Owen

He/Him

Joe was a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office, where he worked on a wide range of economic and domestic policy issues including climate, regional inequality and migration. He also worked at the Institute for Government, as both Director of Impact and the director of the Institute's Brexit programme. He is a senior fellow at the Institute. Joe has also worked with a number of government departments as a consultant, including the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defence and he spent a year at Transport for London in its strategy team.

Tim-Leunig profile pic

Tim Leunig

He/Him

Tim Leunig served as a senior UK civil servant for a decade, including as Economic Adviser to Chancellors, Senior Policy Adviser to six other cabinet ministers, and Chief Analyst and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department for Education. He invented the furlough scheme, the National Funding Formula for England’s schools, and created the Longitudinal Education Outcomes database. He has taught at the London School of Economics for 25. He is also a Director of Economics at Public First.

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Chris Curtis

He/Him

Chris Curtis was elected MP for Milton Keynes North in 2024, the first Milton Keynes MP to be both born and raised in the city. Curtis is a pollster, previously working at YouGov, and as Head of Political Polling at Opinium. Before being elected, he worked with the think tank Labour Together. Curtis is co-chair of the Labour Growth Group and a member of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee.

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Yuan Yang

She/Her

Yuan Yang was elected MP for Earley and Woodley in 2024. Born in China, she is the first Chinese-born Briton to be elected to the UK Parliament. Yang is an economist and journalist, co-founding Rethinking Economics, a charity that promotes diverse economic teaching. She worked for the Financial Times, serving as their Europe-China correspondent and deputy bureau chief in Beijing. Yang is the author of Private Revolutions, published in 2024.

Event information

28 Sep 2025 18:30 – 20:00