'Labour are going to raise your taxes again to pay for their mistakes'

RACHEL Reeves was last night accused of trying to “pick the pockets” of middle class workers.

- By Martyn Brown

The Chancellor refused to rule out a wealth tax raid in her autumn Budget.

Conservatives warned that she is plotting to clobber millions to help clear up her economic mess.

Party leader Kemi Badenoch said “Britain doesn’t need more taxes”, while Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said hardworking people will pay the price for Labour's mistakes.

Their stark warnings come after ministers hinted that Ms Reeves is considering wealth taxes in her autumn Budget to fill a fiscal hole worth tens of billions.

Ms Reeves refused to rule it out during an interview, telling broadcasters: “We haven’t even set the date for the Budget yet, so please forgive me if I’m not going to speculate about what might happen at an event that we haven’t even decided a date on yet.”

But she said promises not to increase income tax, National Insurance and VAT remained in place, along with her “nonnegotiable” fiscal rules.

Ms Reeves added: “Interest rates have come down four times in the last year under this Labour Government because of the stability that we’ve managed to return to the economy, which is underpinned by those fiscal rules, which have enabled the Bank of England to cut interest rates.”