Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled a Budget that will see tax increases amounting to £40 billion, as she pledged to "fix the foundations" of the economy and restore the public finances.
In a historic moment, marking the first Labour budget since 2010 and the first ever delivered by a woman, Ms Reeves committed to an agenda of "invest, invest, invest".
However, she highlighted that the "black hole" in the nation's accounts left by the Conservative party necessitated significant additional taxation.
Ms Reeves contended that the extent of the fiscal issues she faced was more severe than anticipated.
She pointed out that this year's £22 billion "black hole", attributed to the Tories, indicated they had concealed the true state of their spending plans, with these issues set to persist into future years.
Additionally, Ms Reeves announced plans to allocate £11.8 billion for those impacted by the contaminated blood scandal and £1.8 billion for the victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal.
The Chancellor declared: "Together, the black hole in our public finances this year, which recurs every year, the compensation payments which they did not fund and their failure to assess the scale of the challenges facing our public services means this Budget raises taxes by £40 billion."
"Any Chancellor standing here today would face this reality. And any responsible Chancellor would take action."
"That is why today, I am restoring stability to our public finances and rebuilding our public services."
She unveiled a significant £25 billion increase on employers' national insurance contributions, featuring higher rates and a diminished threshold for payment.
Commencing from April 2025, the rate will ascend by 1.2 percentage points to 15%, with the obligation kicking in once an employee's earnings surpass £5,000, a marked drop from the current £9,100 threshold.
"I know that this is a difficult choice. I do not take this decision lightly," Ms Reeves remarked.
Moreover, the Chancellor disclosed a £2.5 billion augmentation in capital gains tax revenue by elevating the lower rate from 10% to 18% and the upper rate from 20% to 24%.
Additionally, she affirmed amendments to inheritance tax which will expand the scope to encompass pension pots within the levy from April 2027, alongside alterations to reliefs of agricultural and business properties anticipated to yield £2 billion annually.
