Reeves names last possible date for ‘£40bn’ Budget

Rachel Reeves has held out for the last possible date to hold her autumn Budget as she scrambles to come up with a plan to rescue the nation’s troubled finances.

- DAVID MADDOX

The chancellor admitted that the economy is “not working well enough” as she pledged to get a “tight grip” on spending when she delivers her budget on 26 November.

The Independent has been told she is considering a new tax raid by raising capital gains tax and introducing a gambling levy to help close an estimated £40bn black hole in her Budget.

The two options, championed by trade unions and former prime minister Gordon Brown, are said to be top of the list of possible new taxes - also including a mansion tax, freezing income tax thresholds and applying national insurance to rental income for landlords - being looked at.

A well-placed source told The Independent: “At the moment the focus is on capital gains tax and the gambling tax.”

The chancellor has reiterated that she will not break Labour’s manifesto promise of no rises in income tax, VAT or employee national insurance contributions, despite economists warning she may have no other choice.

She has also pledged not to change her self-imposed fiscal rules to allow her to borrow more at a time when Labour MPs are crying out for Ms Reeves to find new revenues without further cutting public spending.

The not-unprecedented late date for the Budget gives Ms Reeves extra time to digest the findings of the Office of Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) independent economic forecast to decide which taxes she will raise and by how much.