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Watch as chancellor Rachel Reeves sets out Labour’s plan for economic growth

Oliver Browning
Monday 29 July 2024 17:00 BST
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Watch as Rachel Reeves sets out her plan for economic growth in a speech on Monday 29 July.

The chancellor will announce “very tough decisions” to address a public spending black hole of around £20 billion – but no tax rises should be expected, a senior minister has said.

Cabinet office minister Pat McFadden said Labour’s election promise not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT would “still hold” ahead of the statement.

Ms Reeves will lay out the spending inheritance left by the previous government – and announce the date of her first autumn Budget – as she pledges to “restore economic stability”.

In the House of Commons, she will say that a Treasury spending audit she commissioned shows that the previous government overspent this year’s budgets by billions of pounds after making a series of unfunded promises.

She will also accuse the previous Conservative administration of “covering up the true state of the public finances” while cuts and delays to major infrastructure projects are expected.

The Conservatives, meanwhile, have sought to suggest Labour is attempting to build a narrative which could lay the ground for future tax rises at its first budget.

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