This week’s Budget is widely expected to clobber millions of people with up to £40 billion in punishing tax rises
The warning, from former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, comes as Labour prepares to clobber millions of people with up to £40 billion in tax hikes.
Rachel Reeves is preparing to hit employers with a whopping £20 billion increase in their National Insurance bills and announce a welter of other expected tax rises on Wednesday.
It is also likely to include increases to capital gains and inheritance taxes and extend freezes to income tax thresholds, dragging more people into higher rates as wages rise with inflation.
Amid growing alarm among Labour MPs over the potential long-term electoral impact of the measures Mr Kwarteng warned: “Wednesday’s Budget will raise taxes across the board. Make no mistake: Middle Britain is firmly in the firing line.”
Kwasi Kwarteng
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he added: “Labour says it needs to raise taxes in order for the Office of Budget Responsibility to be satisfied that the Government can pay its bills.