No alternative to raising tax, defiant chancellor to tell CBI

A defiant Rachel Reeves will rebuke critics of her tax-raising budget today, telling disgruntled business leaders that they have offered "no alternatives" to her plans.

- Heather Stewart

Since Labour's first budget in 14 years last month, business groups have said Reeves's £25bn increase in employer national insurance contributions will force them to cut jobs and raise prices. Thousands of farmers have also protested against changes to the inheritance tax regime.

But the chancellor will tell the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference in Westminster that no one has offered a better solution to the situation left by the Tories.

"I have heard lots of responses to the government's first budget but I have heard no alternatives," she is expected to say. "We have asked businesses and the wealthiest to contribute more. I know those choices will have an impact. But I stand by those choices as the right choices for our country: investment to fix the NHS and rebuild Britain, while ensuring working people don't face higher taxes in their payslips."

The budget on 30 October included £40bn of tax rises to boost public spending. Increases to employer NICs were the biggest revenue-raiser for the Treasury. Coming alongside a significant uplift in the minimum wage in April, some industries, including hospitality and retail, have said they will struggle to absorb the extra national insurance costs.