Chancellor Rachel Reeves has finally admitted Labour will increase taxes in her October Budget.
Reeves announced a package of cost-saving measures to fill a £22billion hole in public finances, warning the situation Labour inherited from the Tories was much worse than expected.
Speaking to the News Agents podcast, the Chancellor said: “I think that we will have to increase taxes in the Budget.
“We had in our manifesto a commitment to fiscal rules to balance day-to-day spending through tax receipts and, by the end of the forecast period, to get debt down as a share of GDP. Those are sensible fiscal rules to keep a grip of the public finances.
“We also made other commitments in our manifesto, not to increase National Insurance, VAT or income tax for the duration and we’ll stick with those.”
However, Reeves stressed Labour “stick by” everything in Sir Keir Starmer’s 2024 manifesto.
The Labour leader, who won a landslide victory after Britons went to the polls on July 4, pledged not to increase income tax, national insurance or VAT.
Shadow Chancellor Jeremy Hunt yesterday locked horns with his successor in No10.
He said: “They had a choice, and they have chosen to raise your taxes.
“Instead of taking the difficult decisions needed to reform welfare, increase productivity and stand up to Labour’s union paymasters, the Chancellor will raise taxes right across the country.”
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‘Who cares?!’ Reform UK slaps down Conservative leadership contenders as populist party pose lethal threat to ‘utterly toxic’ Tories
Senior Reform UK figures have slapped down Conservative leadership contenders as the populist party continues to pose a lethal threat to the Tory Party.
Six Tory MPs have received enough support to run in the race to replace Rishi Sunak, with ex-Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch emerging as an early frontrunner.
Despite a focus on uniting the Conservative Party and taking on Reform UK, figures from the populist party were far from convinced by any of the candidates.
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice told GB News: “Who are they? Most voters up and down the country won’t recognise the names of most of those candidates.”