英語学習

英語ニュース教材：Budget 2025: What’s the best and worst that could happen for Labour?（Intermediate レベル）

 

Contents

🎧 Audio

📖 Script

The Budget 2025 is a hot topic in the UK, especially for the Labour Party. The budget is a financial plan that outlines the government’s spending and revenue for the year. It affects everyone, from businesses to ordinary citizens. Recently, the government made a U-turn on its tax policy, which means they changed their mind on how they will collect taxes. This has caused quite a stir among politicians and the public.

Laura Kuenssberg, a well-known political journalist, has been analyzing the situation. She points out that the budget could have both positive and negative effects on the Labour Party. On the positive side, if the budget is well-received by the public, it could increase support for the Labour Party. People might feel that the Labour Party has better economic policies and could manage the country’s finances more effectively.

However, there are also risks involved. If the budget is not popular, it could lead to a loss of confidence in the Labour Party. This could make it harder for them to win future elections. The partial climbdown on workers’ rights is another issue. The government initially promised more rights for workers but has now reduced some of these promises. This decision might upset workers and unions, who are important supporters of the Labour Party.

In conclusion, the Budget 2025 is a crucial moment for the Labour Party. How they respond to these challenges could determine their future success. It’s a delicate balance between making necessary financial decisions and keeping the public and their supporters happy.

📝 Vocabulary

  • budget: a financial plan that outlines income and expenditure
    例文: “The government announced its budget for the upcoming year.”
    Collocations／日本語の意味を見る
    • annual budget
    • budget plan
    • budget deficit
    予算
  • revenue: income received by the government from taxes and other sources
    例文: “The company’s revenue increased by 20% last year.”
    Collocations／日本語の意味を見る
    • tax revenue
    • generate revenue
    • revenue growth
    収入、歳入
  • U-turn: a complete change of direction or decision
    例文: “The politician made a U-turn on his previous policy.”
    Collocations／日本語の意味を見る
    • policy U-turn
    • make a U-turn
    • unexpected U-turn
    方針転換
  • climbdown: a retreat from a previously stated position
    例文: “The company had to make a climbdown on its price increase due to public outcry.”
    Collocations／日本語の意味を見る
    • partial climbdown
    • forced climbdown
    • climbdown on
    撤回、譲歩
  • impact: the effect or influence of one thing on another
    例文: “The new law had a significant impact on small businesses.”
    Collocations／日本語の意味を見る
    • have an impact
    • significant impact
    • impact assessment
    影響

✏️ Grammar Point

Conditional Sentences – “If the budget is well-received by the public, it could increase support for the Labour Party.”

文法の日本語補足を見る
条件文の例

💡 使用場面

条件が満たされた場合の結果を述べるときに使います。ビジネス会議での意思決定時に便利です。

📝 使用例文

“例: In a business meeting, you might say: ‘If we cut costs now, we can increase our profit margin next quarter.’”

❓ Listening Questions

  1. True/False: The Budget 2025 includes a U-turn on tax policy.
  2. MCQ: What could be a positive outcome for the Labour Party regarding the budget?
    a) Increased taxes
    b) Gaining more public support
    c) Losing elections
    d) Decreasing government revenue
  3. MCQ: What issue might upset workers and unions?
    a) Increase in taxes
    b) Budget surplus
    c) Partial climbdown on workers’ rights
    d) New business regulations
🔑 Listening Answersを見る
  1. True
  2. b) Gaining more public support
  3. c) Partial climbdown on workers’ rights

📚 Reading Questions

  1. What is a U-turn in the context of the Budget 2025?
  2. Why do you think the Labour Party might gain support if the budget is well-received?
  3. What does the word “climbdown” mean in the context of the article?
🔑 Reading Answersを見る
  1. A U-turn is a complete change of direction or decision.
  2. The Labour Party might gain support because people could believe they have better economic policies.
  3. Climbdown means a retreat from a previously stated position.

🇯🇵 日本語での経済ニュース解説

2025年の予算は、英国にとって重要な話題であり、特に労働党にとっても重要です。予算は政府の歳入と支出の計画を示し、国民全体に影響を及ぼします。最近、政府は税制について方針転換を行い、これが政界や国民に波紋を広げています。労働党にとって、この予算が好評であれば支持が上がる可能性がありますが、逆の場合は選挙で苦戦するかもしれません。労働者の権利に関する約束を一部撤回したことで、労働者や労働組合の反発を招く可能性があります。今後の労働党の対応が非常に重要となります。

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqlk5gd3kv9o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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