Chancellor John Healey is meeting Labour's union leaders today to hear their policy demands ahead of a major Budget due in six weeks' time. The unions are expected to present a "wish list" including wealth taxes, increased personal allowance, relaxed fiscal rules, and closer ties with the EU. This meeting is significant as the government faces a £10bn fiscal shortfall and growing concerns from financial markets about its grip on public finances, with the Middle East crisis further straining government finances through increased debt interest costs.

Union leaders including Unite boss Sharon Graham are calling for massive wealth taxes and an end to the personal allowance freeze, which has remained fixed at approximately £12,500 for several years despite inflation that would have pushed it above £16,000. Other demands include Unison's proposal for a tax raid on large technology companies and the GMB's renewed calls for approval of new North Sea oil fields. However, the government faces scepticism from financial markets and former Bank of England officials; former deputy governor Sir Charlie Bean expressed concern about fiscal credibility, whilst former chief economist Andy Haldane warned that markets now perceive the government as a "traditional tax and spend socialist government," having shifted from cautious optimism in summer to studied scepticism by September.