𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Voters have lost confidence in Labour’s ability to manage the economy, as Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver a tax-raising Budget on November 26. Exclusive polling shows 77% of Britons fear their standard of living is getting worse, with a majority expecting costs to rise further over the next six months.

The prospect of soaring food and energy bills is a particular concern. The Ipsos survey also found voters were not convinced by Ms Reeves’s efforts to shift the blame for tax rises onto the last Conservative government or Brexit, with six in 10 people who believe the economy is in a bad state blaming “decisions made by the current Labour Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and Chancellor Rachel Reeves”.

The Chancellor is expected to take more money out of voters’ pockets this month. Options being considered by the Treasury include reforming council tax to increase charges on expensive properties, and reducing tax breaks on pension contributions.

But Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride accused Ms Reeves of using taxpayers like a “cash machine”, and said she should resign if she raises taxes again. The Chancellor previously said she would not “come back for more” after her first Budget, in October 2024, raised £40billion annually and pushed the tax take to a record 38% of GDP.

Sir Mel said: “If she breaks her promises again, she must go. Because the country deserves better.”

Polling also found more than half the British public, 57%, believe Sir Keir Starmer’s Government is doing a poor job of managing the rising cost of living – the same proportion that believed the Tories were failing to control living costs while Rishi Sunak was prime minister. That contributed to the devastating Conservative defeat at the last election.

Gideon Skinner, senior director of UK politics at Ipsos, said: “Our latest polling underscores the entrenched pessimism among the British public regarding the current state of the economy and the cost of living.”

The Prime Minister stoked speculation about imminent tax rises when he refused to say that Labour stood by its manifesto pledge not to increase rates of VAT, income tax or National Insurance.

Ms Reeves has said she will make “the necessary choices” in the Budget, in an admission that there will be unpopular decisions. She tried to lay the blame on Brexit, Covid and the previous Conservative government. She said last week: “Austerity, a chaotic Brexit and the pandemic have left deep scars on the British economy that are still being felt today.”