While the investment pledges signal a boost for the government, many business leaders are closely watching what taxes will be hiked on 30 October. Reeves reiterated her Budget would be "tough", but stressed difficult decisions would not put off business investment in the UK because she would offer firms long-term certainty about the levels of taxation they will face. The government has ruled out increasing VAT, National Insurance or income tax, speculation has grown around the rate of National Insurance paid by employers. The chancellor did hint that she might change the government's borrowing rules to free up billions of pounds more in spending for big projects. "We do want to free up investment in those long-term responsible investments that we need to make, to unlock the private investment into our economy," she said.

Source: The Times October 14, 2024 08:14 UTC