A year after claiming she was not coming back for more borrowing or tax rises the Chancellor is chomping at the bit to do just that.
Rachel Reeves is set to unleash pain and misery on millions at the November 26 Budget (Image: Getty)
The mask slipped a long time ago. Yesterday it fell off completely. A year after being “really clear” she was not coming back for more borrowing or tax rises Rachel Reeves addressed the panicked people of Britain – millions suffering because of this government’s many shortcomings – and told them the economy “is not working as it should”.
That much is clear. But it was Labour code for a wave of tax hikes set to hit between the eyes exactly three weeks today.
It has long been feared the calamitous Chancellor – who it emerged broke the law by failing to obtain the licence needed to rent out her family home – would be back to snatch more from squeezed families.
Yesterday it was all but confirmed as she refused to stick by Labour’s election promise not to increase income tax, national insurance or VAT.
Instead, Ms Reeves said, she would do “what is right” not “what is popular”.
That means nothing is off the table and frightened families are now bracing themselves for the grim reality of a nightmare before Christmas when she delivers her Budget on November 26.
Fuel duty is almost certain to rise – ending 15 years of forecourt tax freezes – with Treasury pen pushers salivating at the prospect of a 10p hike.
That would be a reversal of former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s 5p Covid cut (a rate set to expire in March) plus an additional 5p per litre.
In fact, everything is now being considered “in the context of the public finances”, we are told.
It seems inevitable other taxes will rise – including income tax – as Ms Reeves spins the economic misery as a mess of other people’s making. In short, anyone but her.
Millions were warned nothing is off the table in a pre-Budget statement (Image: Getty)
In her panicked pronouncements from Downing Street she banged on about the urgency of cutting NHS waiting lists, slashing the national debt, and easing the cost of living crisis.
Experts think the only “giveaway” will be a carrot for the battered high street in the shape of ending VAT on energy bills.
In all other areas, from alcohol duty to gambling, Labour is ready to abandon the manifesto on which it won last year’s general election in what amounts to a two-fingered salute to us all.
For working people especially, despite Labour struggling to understand let alone define who they are, it will cause significant pain.
The Government now thinks the working class earn less than £46,000 a year – a salary largely out of reach for those grafting in what most reasonable people would describe as tough jobs: plumbers, scaffolders, roofers, HGV drivers and some nurses and teachers.
Robotic Ms Reeves, who talks in maths but isn’t very good at it, failed to fool anyone with her attempt to soften the forthcoming blow.
As we speak plans are being hastily hatched to tax the hell out of people.
One idea is to raise income tax by 2p in what would amount to the first increase in the basic rate for 50 years, a move that would instantly claw back an extra £6billion a year.
The Treasury is also looking to extend the six-year freeze on tax thresholds, dragging millions more into higher bands – a move that would break Labour’s manifesto commitment.
Another plan is to drastically hike council tax for top rated homes in a clear north / south class war that would double monthly bills for around one million families.
Her coded message couldn’t be clearer: If you work hard, play fair, and life is already a struggle, then ya boo shucks, because while once things could only get better now things are about to get a whole lot worse.
After the general election Sir Keir Starmer proclaimed a weight had been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of the nation.
After November 26 tens of millions will be left with a millstone around their necks.
