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Watch live as Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves deliver remarks during a visit to the West Midlands after the Budget announcement on Wednesday.
The chancellor has unveiled Labour’s first Budget in 14 years, making history as the first woman to lead the fiscal event.
Ms Reeves had made no secret of the difficult task she faced, with her announcement set against the backdrop of the £22bn ‘black hole’ in public finances she says was left behind by the previous Tory government.
She revealed new taxation measures that aim to raise £40bn — the highest since 1993 — including an increase in employer national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, and changes to inheritance tax.
On Thursday, Ms Reeves admitted the employer national insurance increase could hit workers’ pay.
Asked whether the move is a jobs tax which will take money out of people’s pockets, the chancellor told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This will have an impact in wage growth, for example.
“Look, what alternative was there? We had a £22 billion black hole in the public finances.”
She later added: “I did not want to increase the key taxes that working people pay: income tax, VAT and employee national insurance. So we have increased national insurance on employers.”
