Rachel Reeves has defended raising taxes by the highest amount since 1993 as she said “everything has to be paid for”.
The chancellor announced £40bn worth of tax rises in Wednesday’s budget, with the lion’s share coming from a £25bn increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions.
She told Sky News’ Breakfast With Kay Burley that unlike the previous Conservative government, she has included everything ministers will spend in their forecast, including £11.8bn compensation for victims of the infected blood scandal and £1.8bn for victims of the Post Office accounting scandal.
The chancellor also admitted growth “is largely unchanged” in the next five years, as revealed by the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) report on the budget.
But she said that is because she is looking at the economy in the long-term.
She said: “For the first time, the OBR are now looking at economic growth over a longer time frame.
“And that’s really important because often politicians make short-term decisions rather than things that are in the long term interests of the country.”
Budget latest: Rachel Reeves defends big tax rises as ‘everything has to be paid for’
Budget: Chancellor says it would be ‘irresponsible’ to rule out further tax rises
Budget: Feeling blindsided? Chancellor’s hefty tax and spending plans are a huge gamble
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News App. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
