Labour budget set to raise £40 billion through tax hikes and spending cuts
manchestereveningnews.co.ukRachel Reeves is looking to raise up to £40 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts in this month’s Budget as the Government seeks to avoid a return to austerity, it is understood.
The Chancellor told ministers in a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that plans to fill what Labour calls a “£22 billion black hole” in the UK’s finances will be enough only to “keep public services standing still”.
The Treasury is said to have identified a far larger £40 billion funding gap which Ms Reeves will seek to plug to protect key departments from real-terms cuts and put the economy on a firmer footing.
Experts have argued that ministers need to find £20 billion to avoid a squeeze on so-called “unprotected” departments pencilled in by their Tory predecessors, and billions more to prevent a sharp fall in investment spending.
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