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Watch live as Rachel Reeves delivers her CBI speech on Monday (25 November) as the chancellor insists there is “no alternative” to tax rises.
Earlier today, the chancellor was accused of catching firms “off guard” and undermining investment and jobs, the head of one of Britain’s leading business groups said.
Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said profit is “not a dirty word” because it underpins firms’ ability to invest, but the Government’s actions have hampered that.
The Chancellor is expected to tell the organisation there is “no alternative” to tax rises as she holds firm against criticism of the £25 billion increase in firms’ national insurance contributions (NICs).
Ms Newton-Smith welcomed the new political and economic stability offered by the government after the turbulence of the Conservative years, but condemned the way firms have been blindsided by the increase in NICs and the lowering of the threshold at which they start to be paid.
She warned it will make it more difficult to achieve the economic growth sought by Ms Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer.
