UK’s Labour government raises taxes by 40bn pounds in first budget
Al Jazeera
Finance minister Rachel Reeves has said the tax hike will be used to fund public services and bolster public finances.
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has told lawmakers that taxes will rise by 40 billion British pounds ($52bn) in order to plug a hole in the public finances and provide new funding for the United Kingdom’s cash-starved public services, in a wide-ranging budget statement that could set the tone for years to come.
In the Labour Party’s first budget since returning to power earlier this year after 14 years in opposition, Reeves said she was also changing the UK’s rules so the government can “invest, invest, invest” and spur economic growth.
Her biggest cash commitment was an additional 25 billion pounds ($32.5bn) for the country’s National Health Service, which has seen waiting lists rise to record levels in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The choices that I have made today are the right choices for our country,” Reeves said at the end of her statement on Monday. “To restore stability to our public finances. To protect working people. To fix our NHS. And to rebuild Britain.”
Reeves said the tax hike, which in large part comes from an increase in the tax businesses pay for employing people, is needed because of the economic “black hole” left by the previous Conservative government.
