Why Rachel Reeves chose a ‘smorgasbord’ of tax tweaks – and the risks involved in that approach

By Shampa Roy-Mukherjee, Vice Dean and Professor in Economics, University of East London

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered her second budget, in which she raised taxes by £26 billion. This will take the UK tax burden to an all-time high of 38% of GDP by 2030-31. But it will also more than double Reeves’ “fiscal headroom” to £22 billion.

This fiscal headroom – effectively Reeves’ spending buffer – is up from the previous £9 billion, giving the government more flexibility…

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