Overview
- The chancellor used a Downing Street speech to warn that weaker forecasts have left a roughly £20bn–£30bn hole that must be addressed within strict fiscal rules.
- No 10 declined to recommit to Labour’s election pledge on income tax, VAT and national insurance, intensifying expectations that the promise could be broken.
- A Resolution Foundation proposal under review would shift 2p from employee national insurance to income tax, raising about £6bn while offsetting the impact on pay packets, according to the think tank.
- Reporting points to a wider menu of revenue options under consideration, including higher council tax bands, a mansion tax on high-value homes, threshold freezes, reduced pension tax relief and higher taxes on unearned income.
- Opposition figures, including Mel Stride, attacked the prospect of higher taxes and pressed for Reeves’s removal if she raises them, as the government finalizes plans for the Nov. 26 Budget.