Watch: Rachel Reeves unveils Labour’s Budget as first female chancellor
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Your support makes all the difference.Watch as Rachel Reeves presented Labour’s first Budget in 14 years on Wednesday, 30 October.
The chancellor promised: “More pounds in people’s pockets. An NHS that is there when you need it. An economy that is growing, creating wealth and opportunity for all. Because that is the only way to improve living standards.”
Ms Reeves announced tax hikes that will raise an eye-watering £40bn.
The chancellor said Labour had inherited a £22bn funding “black hole” from the Tories and would never again “allow a government to play fast and loose with public finances.”
She pledged to “invest, invest, invest” in order to “fix public services” after months of warning the public of the “tough choices” ahead.
Ms Reeves confirmed increases to employers’ national insurance contributions, stamp duty on second homes and a scrapping of VAT exemption on private schools fees, and a new duty on vaping liquids.
The Treasury already announced that the minimum wage will increase to £12.21.
It falls short of the £12.60 an hour sum recommended by the Living Wage Foundation, but Ms Reeves described the 6.7 per cent increase as a “significant step” towards creating a “genuine living wage for working people.”
Labour vowed not to raise taxes on “working people” in the days before the Budget announcement.
Their pre-election manifesto promised not to increase income tax, national insurance, or VAT as part of their commitment to keep taxes low for these “working people.”
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