Rachel Reeves was accused of ‘fiddling the figures’ and Labour of lying to the public to get elected today as the Chancellor unveiled a massive £40billion tax raid.
In his final Commons appearance before stepping down as Tory leader, Rishi Sunak said that the financial bombshell was ‘proof’ that Labour planned to ‘tax, borrow and spend far beyond’ what they announced during the general election.
The scale of the package is even greater than thought. It could outdo 1993’s eyewatering revenue-raiser in the wake of Black Wednesday.
Responding to the Budget, Mr Sunak, who steps down on Saturday, told MPs: ‘On the day that he took office, the Prime Minister said that he wanted to restore trust to British politics with actions, not words.
‘Well today, his actions speak for themselves with a Budget that contains broken promise after broken promise and reveals the simple truth that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have not been straight with the British people.
In his final Commons appearance before stepping down as Tory leader, Rishi Sunak said that the financial bombshell was ‘proof’ that Labour planned to ‘tax, borrow and spend far beyond’ what they announced during the general election
The scale of the package is even greater than thought. It could outdo 1993’s eyewatering revenue-raiser in the wake of Black Wednesday
‘Time and again, time and again, we Conservatives warned Labour would tax, borrow and spend far beyond what they were telling the country. And time and again, they denied they had such plans.
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‘But today, the truth has come out, proof that they planned to do this all along, because today’s Budget sees the fiscal rules fiddled, borrowing increased by billions of pounds, inflation-busting handouts for the trade unions.’
Businesses have warned of a ‘perfect storm’ with Ms Reeves hiking employers’ national insurance to drum up an incredible £25billion for the Treasury.
Capital gains tax is being bolstered and alongside curbing of reliefs will bring in £2.5billion.
Inheritance is also in the crosshairs, drumming up another £2billion through reducing benefits for estates and people handing down farms and shares. Pension pots passed on to relatives will now be subject to the levy.
And second-home buyers will be punished by pushing the stamp duty surcharge from 3 per cent to 5 per cent, effective tomorrow.