Labour’s First Budget Raises Taxes by £40 Billion, Increases Spending and Borrowing

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has announced £40 billion a year in extra taxes as she increased borrowing and spending to “fix the NHS and rebuild Britain.” The tax burden announced in Labour’s first Budget on Wednesday will see taxes reach 38.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2027-2028, the highest since 1948 when the country was recovering from World War II. Public spending will increase by around £70 billion annually over the next five years and borrowing will increase by an average of £32.3 billion a year. Reeves said after delivering her Budget to a packed House of Commons: “The choices I have made today are the right choices to restore stability to our public finances, to protect working people, to fix our NHS, and to rebuild Britain....