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Watch live: Office for Budget Responsibility responds to Rachel Reeves’ £40bn tax hikes

Holly Patrick
Wednesday 30 October 2024 14:33
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Watch live as chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) Richard Hughes holds a press conference after Labour's Budget was announced on Wednesday, 30 October.

Rachel Reeves, the UK's first female chancellor, announced tax hikes that will raise an eye-watering £40bn.

The chancellor said Labour had inherited a £22bn funding "black hole" from the Tories and would never again "allow a government to play fast and loose with public finances."

Ms Reeves promised to “invest, invest, invest” in order to “fix public services” after months of warning the public of the “tough choices” ahead.

She confirmed increases to employers' national insurance contributions, stamp duty on second homes and a scrapping of VAT exemption on private schools fees, and a new duty on vaping liquids.

Ahead of the press conference, the OBR said Ms Reeves’ plan “delivers a large, sustained increase in spending, taxation, and borrowing."

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