Overview

• Chancellor Rachel Reeves is preparing an autumn Budget aimed at closing a roughly £50 billion deficit in public finances.
• She has pledged not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT for working people, maintaining her manifesto promise.
• Treasury officials have begun reviewing revenue measures including a gambling levy, income tax threshold freezes, National Insurance hikes and pension relief reforms.
• The Bank of England and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research have issued warnings that slower interest rate cuts and rising borrowing costs could heighten inflationary pressures.
• Conservative MPs led by Kemi Badenoch are pressing for spending cuts instead of tax hikes, while Labour’s leadership has declined to rule out increasing VAT, income tax or corporation tax.