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\t\tThe government set out over \u00a340bn of tax rises at last month’s Autumn Budget\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tSunday 23 November 2025 10:31 am
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\t\t\tSunday 23 November 2025 5:45 pm\n\t<\/p>\n
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\t\tThe government set out over \u00a340bn of tax rises at last month’s Autumn Budget\t<\/p>\n
The Bank of England\u2019s former chief economist Andy Haldane has accused Rachel Reeves of overseeing \u201cfiscal fandango\u201d in the lead-up to the Budget amid months of speculation around expected tax rises.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking to the BBC, Haldane<\/a> blasted months of speculation around the Budget that had caused \u201cparalysis\u201d in the UK economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n His comments came days after he had criticised \u201crepeated mistakes\u201d on Budget leaks that had stunted growth in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n He told the BBC<\/a> on Sunday morning: \u201cWe have had month upon month of speculation \u2013 fiscal fandango,\u201d Haldane said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat has been costly for the economy. It\u2019s caused paralysis among businesses and consumers. It\u2019s the single biggest reason growth has flatlined in the second half of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cNext week, we need a decisive action that puts to bed and beyond reproach any notion of further tax rises.\u201d<\/p>\n Haldane\u2019s intervention has come amid calls for the Chancellor to increase her headroom at the Budget to reduce the chances of forecasts wiping out her headroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n It has also come as reports suggested Reeves had been able to ditch plans to raise income taxes due to improved projections <\/a>on public finances by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).\u00a0<\/p>\n In response to claims of Budget speculation stifling growth, transport secretary Heidi Alexander said the process had taken place on \u201cshifting sands\u201d due to changes in OBR forecasts before the Budget.<\/p>\n \u201cThe review that the OBR has done about the productivity forecasts has meant that this whole process has really taken place on shifting sands to start off with, and we\u2019ve got a very challenging global economic environment,\u201d Alexander said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tAndy Haldane: Budget speculation is hitting growth<\/a><\/p>\n \tReeves promises post-Budget welfare reform<\/p>\n Criticism of the government\u2019s handling of the Budget process will pile pressure on Reeves to deliver a Budget that keeps economic growth on track while maintaining political support across the voter base.\u00a0<\/p>\n Writing in The Sunday Times<\/a>, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she would push ahead with welfare reform after the Budget amid further reports that she would make a \u00a33bn commitment to scrap the two-child benefit cap.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Chancellor said she is determined to stop the government from squandering funds, adding that \u201cthere is nothing fair or progressive about unfairness and waste in government\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n The \u00a33bn spending commitment will be seen as a means to fend off growing opposition to Keir Starmer and Reeves on the Labour backbenches, though she may face some questions over hiking taxes while letting disability payments increase by over \u00a320bn over the next four years.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a message to traders in bond markets looking for greater fiscal prudence from the government, Reeves said in The Sunday Times she would introduce welfare support to tackle youth unemployment and curb fraud in the system.\u00a0<\/p>\n The main focus of the Budget would be to lower the cost of living, which could prompt further interest rate cuts and help lower government borrowing costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThese choices are only possible because of the stability we have brought back to the economy. With my ironclad commitment to the fiscal rules, I will maintain financial stability and bring down debt,\u201d she wrote in The Sunday Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI will build the headroom I need so that the country is prepared for increasingly unstable global headwinds.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the newspaper, the main tax rises at the Budget will include freezing the income tax threshold for another two years and adding a \u201cmansion tax\u201d that involves a surcharge on the most expensive properties.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Reeves is also expected to make national insurance be paid above a new cap on salary sacrifice schemes and to introduce a pay-per-mile scheme on electric cars.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n