Reeves all but confirms tax hikes in Autumn Budget
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has indicated that the Labour government will break from its manifesto and increase taxes in the Autumn Budget.
Speaking in an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live on Monday (10 November), the Chancellor said that she would set out the choices in the Budget and would not take ‘the easy route’ out.
“It would, of course be possible to stick with the manifesto commitments, but that would require things like deep cuts in capital spending, and the reason why our productivity and our growth has been so poor these last few years is because governments have always taken the easy option to cut investment in rail and road projects, in energy projects, in digital infrastructure.
“And as a result, we’ve never managed to get our productivity back to where it was before the financial crisis. So we’ve always got choices to make, and what I promised during the election campaign was to bring stability back to our economy, and what I can promise now is I will always do what I think is right for our country.”
She added her team is still going through the process at the moment of preparing the Budget and finalising what will be included.
“So those final decisions haven’t been taken yet, but as I take those measures, I will do what I believe is right for our country, and sometimes that means not always making the easy decisions, but the decisions that I think are in our national interest.”
HotMinute has previously reported how uncertainty around future tax changes is taking a toll on financial confidence.
Nearly eight in ten people (78%) said it affects their financial planning or investment decisions to some degree, data from wealth manager Quilter shows.
The survey found that one in three (33%) said tax uncertainty significantly impacts their decisions, while a further 45% said it affects them slightly. Only 18% said it has no impact at all.
