Red Rachel’s RECORD £75bn tax bomb: Reeves has hit Britain harder than any Chancellor since figures began – in stark contrast to huge cuts during Thatcher era

Rachel Reeves has announced more tax increases than any other Chancellor in at least six decades.

A historical database of budget measurements shows Ms Reeves is ‘rated’ to have added £75.1bn a year to the burden on hard-working Brits.

Having amassed a staggering number 11 in just 18 months, he is well ahead of his nearest rival in terms of the dubious distinction.

This was Labor politician Gordon Brown, whose financial statements revealed an extra £62.1bn.

Rishi Sunak came third with a £54.9bn tax increase announced as he struggled to cope with the effects of Covid and the Ukraine war. Norman Lamont’s raises in the 1990s were valued at £41.7bn, George Osborne’s at £41.6bn.

The OBR holds figures for all tax policies ‘scored’ in fiscal events since 1970, adjusted for GDP growth to date.

The figures do not take into account measures that showed increases by more or less than expected and overlook some minor changes leading up to the establishment of the watchdog in 2010.

But they give the best available indication of the size of the packages announced by the Chancellors.

The database shows Ms. Reeves is responsible for two of the 10 largest tax-increasing budgets on record.

The Chancellor’s 26 November package ranked seventh. his debut Budget last year it was rated as the second largest.

At the other end of the scale, Nigel Lawson was rated as the biggest tax cutter. During the Thatcher years, she announced cuts of £104 billion a year.

Another Conservative, Anthony Barber, reduced the burden by the equivalent of £97.9 billion in the early 1970s.

Most of these came from the 1972 Budget, known as the ‘growth drive’; This was followed by years of high inflation and desperate efforts to cut spending.

Worryingly, Ms Reeves has refused to rule out returning for more taxes in the future, despite pushing the burden as a proportion of GDP to new highs.

Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said: ‘After just 18 months at the Treasury, Rachel Reeves is already breaking records as the biggest tax-raising Chancellor in modern British history.

‘The Conservatives said we were lying when we said Labor would raise taxes at the election. Now they won’t even rule out coming back for more tax increases. ‘They are increasing the tax burden to the highest levels in history in order to spend more on welfare.’

Ms Reeves’s raid on November 26 was “scored” by the OBR to deliver an eye-watering £29.8bn a year by 2030-31.

This was marginally less than Tory Geoffrey Howe’s Spring 1981 plans; It was estimated at £30.3 billion in today’s terms.

Labour’s predecessor Denis Healey’s budget in spring 1974 brought in £30.8bn, according to the database.

Ms Reeves’s first Budget was previously rated as the biggest tax riser to date.

But in some consolation for the Chancellor, it is now classed as marginally smaller. Norman Lamont’s bumper raid in Spring 1993 in the wake of the Black Wednesday sterling crisis.

This appears to be due to GDP revisions over the last few years affecting historical measurements more than recent measurements.

Lord Lamont’s budget now stands at £43.6bn, while the 2024 Reeves event costs just over £43bn.