This is the moment when Daily Mail journalists were nearly taken out by a collapsing tree while reporting on the upcoming Budget.
Political correspondent Christian Calgie and cameraman Aiden Smith had been filming around Westminster for over an hour before setting up camp in Green Park, overlooking the doorway to the Treasury.
Ahead of the crucial first Budget of Andy Burnham‘s premiership, which will be announced on Wednesday next week, there was plenty to explain to viewers.
The cost of energy will be top of voters’ minds when Chancellor John Healey stands at the Dispatch Box for the first time, with a recent cut to VAT on household electricity bills already being wiped out by ever-rising gas and oil prices.
But filming came to a sudden halt when, minutes into the shoot, an enormous branch crashed down on the Mail’s cameraman, who captured the moment in full despite being struck by the falling foliage.
Despite being left with a bleeding cut to his forehead, Mr Smith valiantly continued filming for another hour before returning to the office.
Political correspondent Christian Calgie and cameraman Aiden Smith had been out filming around Westminster – before getting the fright of their lives when a BRANCH came crashing down
The political correspondent seemingly counted himself lucky
The dramatic day’s filming came just days before Britons find out what further tax rises the Labour government has in store.
Mr Burnham has suggested he will stick to Sir Keir Starmer’s manifesto red lines not to hike income tax, National Insurance or VAT.
Mr Healey also appears on course to risk the anger of hard-left Labour backbenchers by rejecting calls to raise Capital Gains Tax, with official modelling suggesting such a move would backfire and lose the Treasury money.
But other facets of life could be set for further levies in order to fund the PM’s spending pledges, with Mr Healey undertaking a root-and-branch search for any new taxes he can impose.
Banks are in the firing line for a £2 billion raid, while income tax thresholds may also be frozen for yet another year, having not moved since 2021, meaning thousands more taxpayers will be dragged into paying higher bands.
Those in homes branded ‘mansions’ under Rachel Reeves’s new property tax could also feel the squeeze yet again, with Mr Healey eyeing up lowering the threshold that annual charges come in from £2 million to £1.5 million, bringing an additional 200,000 family homes within scope of the levy.
And the Chancellor is reportedly set to double the Machine Games Duty, a tax applied to gambling machines, taking it to 40 per cent, despite warnings that this could also end up losing the Treasury money.
