Chancellor Rachel Reeves refused to rule out further tax rises in the next Budget
Political commentator Dr Mike Jones has warned that Labour will resort to "jiggery-pokery" with the tax system in the Autumn Budget, predicting potential rises of up to £40billion following the Government's retreat on benefits reforms.
Speaking to GB News, Dr Jones said taxes would have to increase due to flatlining productivity and less optimistic economic growth forecasts than Labour had anticipated.
He told GB News: "There's going to be a fiscal black hole for two reasons. Firstly, productivity has continued to flatline.
"Economic growth forecasts aren’t as optimistic as the Labour Party had expected. And, obviously, Labour has turned away from welfare reforms."
My personal view is that they won’t necessarily raise income tax, but they will freeze thresholds. There will also be targeted levies possibly on corporation tax, possibly on pensions.
"But there will be a lot of jiggery-pokery going on with the tax system. Ultimately, though, taxes will have to go up, unfortunately.
"Rachel Reeves has already raised taxes. In her October Budget last year, she increased them by about £40billion, which is the highest amount since the 1990s. The Labour Party are completely out of their depth.
"They haven't properly cut total managed expenditure and now the British taxpayer is going to pay the price."
