The real rabbit in the Budget is that some of these tax rises will hit working people after all
The IndependentThe absence of rabbits in Rachel Reeves’s Budget box may explain how the chancellor managed to hold it aloft for so long. Before the Budget speech began, Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer were given a spirited dressing-down from the madam deputy speaker, Nusrat Ghani, for leaking almost the entire thing to the media in advance. Jeremy Hunt’s eyes were bulging, while James Cleverly bawled “Nonsense!” The chancellor kept on winding them up, until the opposition front row were howling with rage and Madam Deputy Speaker intervened to warn: “The public are watching.” Just after this, Reeves let slip that she had no choice now but to whack up taxes by an extra £40bn. “Simmer down,” commanded Madam Deputy Speaker, enjoying herself almost as much as Reeves. The party has gone from saying “We will not increase national insurance” in its manifesto to saying “We will, but you won’t notice.” The brighter Labour MPs began to look a tad thoughtful.
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