Rachel Reeves refuses to rule out further tax rises in 2026
Chancellor Rachel Reeves refused to rule out further tax rises but said they were “less necessary” after the November Budget.
Ms Reeves increased taxes by £26bn in the November Budget, including freezing income tax thresholds.
In an interview with The i Paper, he said the moves gave the government protection against emerging problems in an “incredibly unstable” world.
He said: “What I did in the Budget a few weeks ago was to more than double the Government’s fiscal share, which means that we are better able to withstand more disruptions and shocks when they come our way, which means further changes to taxes are less necessary.”
He refused to make predictions about future moves because “it would be wrong to start writing future Budgets just a few weeks after the last Budget”.
Ms Reeves said helping people get on the housing ladder by keeping interest rates low was an important issue.
“There has been a decline in homeownership over the last 10-15 years,” he said.
“I want to go the other way and make sure more people can get a mortgage and get on the housing ladder because I know that’s a lot of people’s desire.”
He backed proposals for more flexible mortgages being considered by the Financial Conduct Authority that would allow people to “borrow more and borrow a greater multiple of your income at the same time”.
