Taxes
will
likely
be
raised
in
the
Budget
later
this
year,
the
chancellor
Rachel
Reeves
has
said.
The
chancellor
said
Labour
would
stick
to
its
election
manifesto
promises
not
to
raise
national
insurance,
income
tax
or
VAT,
but
left
open
the
possibility
for
other
tax
hikes
at
the
budget
on
October
30.
“I
think
that
we
will
have
to
increase
taxes
in
the
budget,”
she
said
while
speaking
to
The
News
Agents
podcast.
Reeves’
admission
comes
a
day
after
she
scrapped
a
series
of
infrastructure
projects,
and
announced
the
winter
fuel
allowance
for
pensions
would
be
means-tested,
among
a
series
of
measures
aimed
at
filling
a
£22
billion
black
hole
in
the
public
finances.
Reeves
did
not
state
which
taxes
would
be
raised
when
asked
on
the
podcast
whether
Labour
would
stick
to
its
manifesto
promises,
and
instead
raise
inheritance
tax
or
capital
gains
tax,
or
undertake
pension
reform.
“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,”
she
said.
“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.”
Pressed
again
about
which
taxes
could
go
up,
she
added:
“we
will
have
a
budget
on
October
30
and
ahead
of
that
budget,
we
will
have
a
forecast
by
the
Office
for
Budget
Responsibility
on
this
occasion,
based
on
accurate
numbers.”
On
Monday,
the
chancellor
said
she
was
making
“difficult
decisions”
as
she
accused
the
previous
government
of
leaving
£21.9
billion
of
unfunded
commitments
that
it
had
“covered
up
from
the
country”.
In
a
statement
to
Parliament,
she
set
out
“immediate
action”
to
address
the
shortfall
by
£5.5
billion,
with
the
rest
of
the
gap
to
be
addressed
at
the
budget.
But
her
predecessor
Jeremy
Hunt
claimed
around
half
of
the
“black
hole”
in
spending
was
down
to
her
deciding
to
give
above-inflation
pay
rises
to
millions
of
public
sector
workers.
Reeves
announced
during
the
statement
she
would
agree
recommendations
by
a
raft
of
public
sector
pay
review
bodies,
while
also
agreeing
to
hike
junior
doctors’
pay
by
around
20%
over
two
years.
In
a
hint
that
taxes
may
have
to
increase,
Reeves
said
the
budget
will
“involve
taking
difficult
decisions
to
meet
our
fiscal
rules
across
spending,
welfare
and
tax”.
Reeves’
statement
to
the
Commons
came
after
she
ordered
Treasury
officials
to
undertake
an
audit
of
public
spending
when
Labour
came
to
office.
Among
the
spending
commitments
cancelled
by
the
chancellor
are
plans
for
the
Stonehenge
Tunnel,
and
to
restore
some
previously
closed
railway
lines,
ending
the
Rwanda
migration
scheme,
and
abandoning
Rishi
Sunak’s
“Advanced
British
Standard”
in
education,
arguing
the
former
prime
minister
“didn’t
put
aside
a
single
penny
to
pay
for
it”.
A
Treasury
spokesperson
said:
“as
we
said
yesterday,
there
will
be
further
difficult
decisions
on
tax
and
spending
at
the
budget
on
October
30.
“The
chancellor
has
not
committed
to
any
tax
rises
not
already
in
the
manifesto
and
has
committed
to
not
increasing
national
insurance,
VAT
or
income
tax.”
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