Read our Privacy noticeRachel Reeves will reportedly target employee pension contributions in a bid to raise more money and fill a black hole in the public finances at this month’s crunch Budget. The chancellor is said to be preparing to cap the amount of someone’s salary that can be sacrificed for extra pension contributions before national insurance contributions are incurred to £2,000 a year. It comes at the end of a week in which Ms Reeves reportedly told the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that she intends to increase income tax in the budget, which will be unveiled on 26 November. Promising to put the national interest above “political expediency”, the chancellor signalled she is ready to break Labour’s manifesto commitment not to raise income tax, personal national insurance or VAT. Meanwhile, new polling shows that just one in five voters backs the reported plans to break Labour’s manifesto pledge – even if they acknowledge it’s in the country’s interests.
