Following the 2026 Budget, presented in the House of Commons today (28 October 2026) by Chancellor John Healey MP, WGGB General Secretary Ellie Peers said:
“We welcome the Chancellor’s pledge to deliver a Budget for working people, and to help ease the cost-of-living pressures with targeted support on everyday expenses like energy and food costs.
“But – and it’s a big but – from this Budget it is clear that the Government is steaming ahead with investment in AI; investment in an industry that does not have regulation to prevent the theft of our members’ work – without consent or renumeration – to train Large Language Models. These models are feeding – illegally – off writers’ copyrighted work and the Government is still silent on what it is going to do about this. We need regulation now.
“There was scant concrete reference to the creative industries in the Budget, yet they are at the heart of the Government’s Industrial Strategy and deliver a huge return on investment – contributing £124 billion to the UK economy. We saw lots of announcements today around advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, defence, AI, life sciences and more, but if the aim of this Government is to truly drive jobs and growth in every postcode, we need targeted investment for writers and other creators too. This is particularly important at a time when the BBC, our largest and oldest public service broadcaster, is making unprecedented job losses and cuts, to the tune of £500 million. Government investment is urgently needed here, too.
“We share concerns with others in the theatre sector that hoped-for tax reforms to cover the additional cost of theatre touring did not appear in the Budget and that while freezes to business rates will provide some relief to theatres, they have not been afforded the same reliefs applied to pubs and live music venues.
“Expanding parental pay to make the system fairer, including to self-employed fathers, partners and adopters, will be welcome to our freelance members with caring responsibilities. We also welcome the fact that the Government will be opening a consultation on non-compete clauses (which impact our videogames members). We look forward to responding to this, and to further detail on plans to modernise the Payments on Account system for Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA).
“We stand ready to work with Government as they move towards their 10-Year Plan, to continue to consult and represent our members and to join with other unions and industry bodies to make sure that the arts – and the creative workers at their heart – are firmly on the agenda.”