Autumn Budget 2026: What do people in the South think?

What do people in the South think of the Budget? Image caption, Thomas, Jennifer and Sue spoke to the BBC about what they thought of the Budget By Charlotte Coles , South of England , Sophie Cridland , in Weymouth and Tiffany Rowlands , Hampshire political reporter Published 1 hour ago A £100 payment to help millions of households with soaring energy bills and an extension to the fuel duty discount were among the announcements in the 2026 Autumn Budget.

It was John Healey's first Budget as chancellor, and he said it had offered "breathing space" to people with pressure on their finances. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch responded that it was "not good enough, not strong enough, not bold enough", while the Lib Dems urged the government to "fix our trading relationship with Europe". But what do people in the South think? 'Astronomical' On Wednesday the chancellor confirmed that the 5p/litre discount on fuel duty would continue until at least July.

The plan had been to phase out the discount early next year, with an increase of 3p per litre on 1 January and a further 2p on 1 March. But the war in the Middle East has pushed fuel prices up dramatically. The cost of filling a typical family car with diesel has gone up by around £30 since late February. A tankful of petrol now costs about £23 more. A 5p/litre increase would have added a further £2.75 to a fill-up, but that will no longer happen until the summer at least.

Speaking to the BBC in Weymouth, Josephine said: "It's good that we've got it, it could have been more but as we've got no money at least they're listening to what we're saying." Sue, who uses her car every day to go to work and spends about £55 on fuel per week, said while the fuel duty cut extension was "good", it "could be better". "I think they should put it down actually," she added. Reacting to the extension of the fuel duty discount, Thomas said: "It's good to know that, but it's still too expensive.

"It needs to come down. "What we're paying for diesel now is just astronomical, so to us it makes a big difference. "It's not just the pick up, which I have for the business, I've also got transport as well to transport the caravans, which that on top it's around about three or four thousand pounds a month I'm paying on fuel." Image caption, Thomas, pictured in Weymouth, said he was paying thousands of pounds per month for fuel 'Better than nothing' The chancellor said 20 million homes in council tax bands A to D in England would receive a cost-of-energy payment.

Jennifer Clay, 45, said the £100 payment would be "hugely useful". "Everything's going up constantly so anything that helps any little bit is obviously going to be a bonus to everybody," she said. She said while she thinks the government can always do more, the payment was "better than nothing". Clay said putting the money towards her energy bills would be a "good shout". "It's preparing to be a really cold winter so electric and gas isn't cheap, so yeah, why not use it for that to get us through the cold months," she said.

Image caption, Jennifer, pictured in Farnborough town centre, said she would be eligible for the £100 energy relief payment The chancellor said he would cut business rates to zero for 70,000 businesses by raising the threshold for those who had to pay it from premises with a rateable value of £12,000 to £18,000. It had been frozen since 2017 and would have reached nearly £18,000 if it had risen in line with inflation. Azam said this was a "good idea", adding: "The high street needs all the help they can get.

"I think that's a real area which could do with that kind of support, so yeah in principle absolutely great idea." Image caption, Azam, pictured in Basingstoke, welcomed the chancellor cutting business rates Steph said: "I think that would be great because I think so many high streets are just dwindled away, with lots of small small businesses just having to close because rents high, electricity - well energy bills - are high, staff costs are high, everything's high.

"It would be nice to see more independent stores and less big chains." Workers aged between 18 and 20 years old will see their pay rise by 3.9%, which is the same increase as those aged 21 years and over. It is a smaller increase than 18-to-20-year-olds have had from Labour over the past two years which, taken together, saw minimum hourly wages rise by 26%. Brian said the government needed to give small businesses more money "so they can employ more people".

"The trouble is they've upped the minimum wage so therefore at the end of the day it's the people like us who are going to pay for it," he said. "Because the companies can't just suck it up as they say, it's got to come from somewhere and it will be passed on to the consumer." Related topics John Healey More on this story What do people in the South want from the Budget? Published 1 day ago Will the Chancellor help the South's housing market?

Published 2 days ago Businesses call for help with 'impossible' fuel prices Published 3 days ago Budget to include £1bn for social and affordable housing Published 3 days ago Was the Budget a full house for the chancellor? Published 13 hours ago Related links HM Treasury