The Latest Breaking News on A shackled economy, no long-term vision for growth — and no help for London

Thinktank predicts backloading may force Labour to abandon tax rises or spending cuts

Rachel Reeves’s budget was seen as a “make or break” moment for the chancellor and the government, which is suffering from low approval ratings and rapidly fading public confidence. At the same time, threats of a leadership challenge and the impending May elections mean Keir Starmer has a tricky path…

Gordon Lyons said such measures would target working people in the region who were already being ‘hammered’.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies’ director Helen Miller called on the Chancellor to be more ambitious about measures to boost growth.

PM seeks to rebuff claims government broke its promises while conceding budget ‘asked everybody to contribute’

In her Budget on Wednesday, Rachel Reeves announced £26 billion of tax rises

People earning less than £35,000 a year will pay more than if chancellor had raised basic rate by 1p, says Resolution Foundation

Move will have greater impact on living standards of taxpayers in bottom half of income scale, thinktanks say

The chancellor can only hope for an upturn in the government’s fortunes before tax increases kick in, says Guardian columnist Larry Elliott