In presenting Labour’s widely anticipated first Budget in 14 years, the Chancellor was faced with a challenging task. Following her announcement of a “black hole” in the public finances, the need to renew the Treasury’s coffers while maintaining Labour’s manifesto promises seemed a tall order.
In the event Ms Reeves outlined a programme of around £41 billion worth of tax increases over the next five years, alongside plans to rebuild tottering infrastructure, the health service, schools and more. Any idea of a return to austerity was quashed, but how this will be achieved is very much in the detail.
