Autumn Budget 2026: Tax hikes will negate boost from hosting Olympic Games

Tax hikes and regulation announced in Wednesday’s Budget will negate any financial boost from Great Britain hosting the Olympic Games in the 2040s, the UK government has been warned. Chancellor John Healey confirmed in his fiscal statement that a £7m fund would be made available to conduct a “feasibility study for a potential future bid to host the Olympics and Paralympics in the North of England during the 2040s”. It will report back in three years time, ahead of a potential bid for the quadrennial multi-sport competition. But critics say tax hikes and red tape could stifle any economic benefit that comes out of hosting the Olympics and Paralympics – which the government is keen to spread across the North. “Hosting the Olympics can be a huge boost to cities and regions involved,” shadow sport minister Louie French told City AM. “But even if successful, the Olympics will never make up for the costs Labour’s tax hikes and red tape have placed on businesses across the coun