A punishing Budget will hurt Britain

After months of frenzied speculation, Chancellor Rachel Reeves's second fiscal statement is now upon us. She needs to raise revenue but nearly all her avenues are closed off, so what will she do?

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This Budget threatens to be just as punishing as her first, with up to £35billion of new taxes lined up to balance the books. That comes on top of the £40billion slapped on us in Reeves's maiden Budget in October last year, a fiscal blitz that damaged economic sentiment, stoked inflation and pushed up unemployment.

She has scrapped plans to raise income tax, which would have directly broken a Labour manifesto promise.

Instead, she'll now fall back on a plan to serve up a whole "smorgasborg" of smaller levies, which could inflict even more damage.

Reports suggest she'll cut the Cash ISA allowance to £12,000, tighten rules on inheritance tax and gifts, and even charge a "mansion tax" on more expensive homes. Many of these will hit pensioners and older savers particularly hard.