0:00
The government apparently has decided
0:02
it's not going to raise income tax. Now,
0:04
I can't claim credit for this, but we
0:06
did poll uh our our readers. 66% of
0:10
voters believe Rachel Reeves should
0:12
resign if she puts up income tax. I'm
0:14
sure that that political calculation has
0:16
featured in this U-turn. remember the
0:19
extent to which the chancellor has been
0:21
laying the groundwork for major tax
0:24
changes, addressing the nation and then
0:26
sitting down with the BBC this week to
0:28
explain that she probably will have to
0:30
break her manifesto pledges on income
0:32
tax. Reports overnight emerging that
0:34
they're not going to do that. However,
0:36
they're still looking at about 30
0:38
billion pounds worth of tax rises
0:40
needed. So the question is if you're not
0:41
going to raise income tax, what are you
0:44
going to do? It seems like they might in
0:46
fact lower the threshold so people start
0:48
paying rates of tax on a lower salary
0:51
point. Now I'm afraid no amount of spin
0:53
can change the fact that that would
0:54
constitute a tax rise. Also going to
0:57
have to look at all the other smaller
0:59
taxes that a plan to raise income tax
1:02
had sort of done away with. Now the bond
1:04
markets are very very nervous and very
1:05
jumpy this morning. The cost of
1:07
borrowing has surged. The pound has
1:08
fallen. Markets don't like being taken
1:10
for a ride politically. That's certainly
1:13
what appears to be going on. The
1:14
Treasury's formal line is that they
1:16
don't comment on budget speculation.
1:18
That said, well, there's very little
1:21
else to comment on. Question now is,
1:23
who's in charge of this budget? If it
1:25
isn't the chancellor, it might be number
1:26
10. It is also the case that the answer
