NRSA Red Book — Budget 2026
The First Palmer Budget
Status: Reconstructed archive document
Purpose: Budget 2026 / Year One fiscal settlement.
1. Budget Doctrine
The Budget links tax cuts to waste reduction.
We will cut your taxes as we cut our waste. The two are linked. We will not promise what we cannot fund.
No hidden fiscal events. No redefined debt metrics. No tricks. Every Budget line appears on the dashboard as the Chancellor speaks.
2. Headline Measures
VAT
Cut from 20% to 15%, effective immediately.
Target: 10% by Year Four, contingent on Utilico, nuclear, and efficiency savings.
Income Tax
Basic rate held initially, with roadmap:
- 17.5% in Year Two;
- 15% in Year Three.
Carer’s Allowance
Increase from £86.45/week to £200/week from April.
Roadmap:
- £350/week by Year Two;
- £500/week by Year Three.
Eligibility expanded from 35+ hours to 20+ hours caring, with earnings cliff edge removed.
Minimum Wage
Increase to £15/hour from April.
Roadmap:
- £18/hour Year Two;
- £20/hour Year Three.
Emergency services wage floor begins higher and rises to £25/hour.
Foreign Aid
Set at 0.15% of GNI.
Retained for:
- disaster relief;
- humanitarian crises;
- genuine diplomatic partnership.
Reallocated savings fund domestic infrastructure and social repair.
3. Strategic Capital Allocations
Nuclear Programme
Initial £5bn tranche.
- site selection;
- standardised reactor design;
- first concrete target within 18 months;
- first reactor online within five years;
- full fleet by Years 8–10.
Transitco
Initial expansion funding for metropolitan rollout, fare integration, card infrastructure, and first 24/7 routes.
Flame NHS / Flame Social
Funding for unified record architecture, speech-to-text, permanent records, children’s services, and care record preservation.
Housing Reform Delivery
Funding for enforcement, repair tracking, landlord compliance, and data integration through Flame Social.
Carer Pay Transition
Ring-fenced funding for expanded claimants and phased increase.
4. Savings Programme
Consulting Cap
No engagement above £500,000 without PM approval.
Outsourcing Review
All contracts tested against:
- public value;
- sovereignty;
- in-house feasibility;
- failure history;
- dashboard transparency.
Legacy IT Reduction
Begin replacement of duplicated, fragmented, outsourced systems through FlameOS GOV.
5. Budget Risks
- Transition shock to low-margin employers from wage rises.
- Short-term reduced VAT revenue before volume recovery.
- Contractor litigation or resistance.
- Nuclear cost overrun risk.
- Delivery bottlenecks in FlameOS GOV recruitment.
Mitigation: phased targets, dashboard tracking, contract transparency, standardised reactor design, public reporting.
6. Public Accounting
Every commitment becomes a dashboard line item:
- allocation;
- spend to date;
- delivery owner;
- milestone;
- variance;
- public explanation.
7. Closing Line
The old Budget asked you to trust the books. This Budget opens them.