Rachel Reeves’ rumoured tax hike would be the ultimate betrayal of working Britain
Reports that Rachel Reeves is considering raising income tax in the autumn budget should alarm every ordinary working taxpayer in Britain.
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After promising before the election not to increase income tax, VAT or national insurance, the chancellor is now reportedly plotting to raid people’s payslips to fill the £30 billion black hole she and her government have created.
It would be the ultimate betrayal.
For months, Reeves has posed as the ‘responsible’ steward of the public finances. However, the reality is that borrowing is surging, spending is out of control, and the national debt now accounts for almost 100 per cent of GDP. Far from tackling these problems, Reeves has only deepened them, and now wants to make taxpayers foot an even bigger bill.
The Labour manifesto was clear: no rise in income tax, VAT or national insurance. Yet, as the hole in the public finances has widened, that pledge has started to look increasingly disposable. Instead of cutting waste, streamlining Whitehall or reining in ballooning welfare spending, the chancellor is turning once again to the easiest option, squeezing the very people who get up, go to work, and keep the country running.
Britain’s tax burden stands at a 76-year high, fiscal drag, the stealth tax caused by frozen income tax thresholds, means millions are paying more and more each year without any official tax rise. An estimated additional 1.9 million people will be forced to pay a higher rate of tax due to these threshold freezes by the end of the decade
The current approach is fiscally irresponsible. Britain doesn’t need higher taxes; it needs lower spending. There is no shortage of things to crack down on: from six-figure diversity officers to taxpayer-funded quangos, to costly vanity projects like HS2 and our ballooning welfare bill. The money is there - it’s just being badly spent.
If the chancellor is serious about economic recovery, she should start by getting her own house in order. That means trimming back the bloated state, not raiding the pockets of hard-working taxpayers once again. The British public didn’t vote for higher taxes, and if Rachel Reeves breaks her word, they won’t forget it or forgive her.
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John O'Connell is the chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance
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