Chancellor Rachel Reeves will on Tuesday prepare the public for further tax rises in this month’s Budget, as the government battles to repair the public finances and boost economic growth.
In a speech from Downing Street soon after markets open at 8.00am, Reeves will pledge to take “fair choices” to reduce the national debt, protect the NHS and cut the cost of living.
The Budget will be “led by this government’s values, of fairness and opportunity and focused squarely on the priorities of the British people”, the chancellor is expected to say.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Monday raised the prospect of hefty tax increases in the Budget on November 26, telling Labour MPs that the government would shun “austerity” in the form of deep cuts to public spending.
Many Labour MPs are resigned to Reeves’ breaking Labour’s election manifesto promise not to raise the rates of income tax, national insurance or value added tax.
The Budget is shaping up to be a potentially defining moment for Starmer’s government, as it contends with a fiscal hole economists estimate at about £30bn, sluggish economic growth and a plunge in the opinion polls.
