UK Budget 2024 LIVE updates as Rachel Reeves announces £40bn tax rise with benefits and pensions increases

Rachel Reeves is presenting Labour's first budget for 14 years in Parliament this afternoon.

The Chancellor will make a series of announcements about taxes and spending in her first Autumn statement since Labour's landslide election victory in July. Soon after taking office, Ms Reeves accused the Tories of leaving a £22bn 'black hole' in the public finances.

With the funding gap said to be higher now, the Chancellor today announced taxes would rise by £40bn, although promised that none of income tax, VAT or national insurance would rise for 'working people'. She did announce an increase in employers’ national insurance contributions by 1.2 percentage points, however, stating it is “the right choice to make”.

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“The scale and seriousness of the situation that we have inherited cannot be underestimated," she said.

“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.”

The government had already announced a 6.7 per cent rise in the minimum wage to £12.21 an hour from April, but workers could pay more tax if income tax thresholds are frozen.

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The Chancellor has also confirmed that she will change the way debt is measured, opening the door for the government to