The Papers: Reeves 'renewing Britain' or 'reckless splurge'?

Reaction to the chancellor's Spending Review dominates the headlines on Thursday morning. The Daily Express warns to "brace for tax pain" after Rachel Reeves dedicated an extra £29bn a year to the NHS. Critics say the plans are "fantasy spending".

The NHS and defence are the "big winners" of the chancellor's Spending Review, says the Guardian. The paper reports that Reeves has already launched a "charm offensive" to Labour MPs concerned about the rise of Reform UK, telling them that the review "was not a return to austerity".

The Spending Review is "a reckless splurge" which voters will be "paying off for years", says the Daily Mail.

The chancellor's £300bn "spree" is the "spend of austerity" according to the Metro. The cash injections for some departments, equivalent to £8,100 a year per taxpayer, was necessary to "renew Britain", Reeves says.

Reeves has turned on "the tax and spend taps", writes the Times. The cash injection is a bid to "help Labour win the next election", but the paper reports some departments - including the police - still face a "challenging" fiscal situation. The chancellor will have "no choice" but to raise taxes "to keep books balanced", economists say.

The chancellor is "sacrificing" the police and defence in the Spending Review, says the Daily Telegraph. Police chiefs warn that the plans could mean election targets on reducing crime "could be missed", while former military leaders say they are "totally inadequate" for the Armed Forces. Both are set for smaller yearly bumps in spending compared to the NHS.

NHS, defence and education are the winners from the chancellor's Spending Review, says the Financial Times. But the Home Office, Foreign Office and Culture Department face a "squeeze". The review is a "rejection of austerity", according to the chancellor, but the Institute of Fiscal Studies warns that "things look tighter" from mid-2026.

Tax rises are now "inevitable", leads the i Paper, which says the Home Office is the "biggest loser" from the Spending Review. It reports that council tax is "likely to rise" after a squeeze of funding for the police.

The chancellor's £300bn Spending Review for a "better Britain" features in the top bar of the Daily Mirror's front page. But the paper leads with a report from the High Court, where the government is suing a firm linked to Tory peer Baroness Mone for allegedly breaching a deal to provide protective equipment during the Covid pandemic.

"Vive la farce!" leads the Sun, which reports that "indifferent French police looked on" as migrants set off in a dinghy bound for the UK. It comes as Reeves says asylum hotels will stay open until 2029, the paper adds.

"God only knows what we'll be without you", says the Daily Star, following the death of Beach Boy Brian Wilson, aged 82.