The government can only afford “a tiny tax cut here or a tiny cut there,” a respected economic think tank has said ahead of Wednesday’s statement.
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, said any tax cuts would have to be followed by “incredibly tight spending plans”.
His comments came after prime minister Rishi Sunak delivered a speech earlier on Monday in which he suggested taxes would be cut on Wednesday.
Mr Sunak also claimed handing over the UK economy to Labour would be “just as dangerous” as Liz Truss’s stewardship of the economy.
He claimed Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves wanted to continue the “big government, big spending approach” of the Covid pandemic, pointing to the opposition’s £28bn green business plan.
“This makes the same economic mistake as last year’s mini-budget – blowing tens of billions of pounds on unfunded spending is just as dangerous as blowing tens of billions of pounds on unfunded tax cuts.”
