Second think tank urges Reeves to break manifesto vows and raise taxes

Rachel Reeves has been urged to ditch her manifesto promise and hike income tax, national insurance or VAT this autumn.

The Institute for Government (IfG) is the second think tank this week to call on the Chancellor to break her pledge and hit the middle classes with tax rises.

In a report published today, the IfG called on Ms Reeves to undertake serious tax reform, instead of reaching for an ‘eclectic grab bag of tax raisers’.

The IfG said the Chancellor should try to avoid ‘layering even more complexity and distortion onto the tax system’.

But it warned: ‘Raising substantial revenue will likely require broad-based tax rises that are paid by a large population.