Sir Keir Starmer has said that the Budget “asked everybody to make a contribution” in order to protect public services and help people struggling with the cost of living.
Rachel Reeves’s Budget put Britain on course for a record tax burden as she hiked levies by £26 billion after weaker economic forecasts left holes in her previous spending plans.
But the PM argued that his Government had “done the least possible we can” to impact people and had “done it in a fair way”.
The increases are also needed to pay for increased benefits spending, with the abolition of the two-child benefit cap costing £3billion a year by 2029/30.
Asked by the BBC if Labour had broken its manifesto commitment not to raise headline taxes on working people, the Prime Minister replied: “We made a number of commitments in our manifesto which we have kept, but I accept that… we have asked everybody to make a contribution.
“I tell your viewers precisely why that is: to make sure that we can protect our NHS, which needs to be there for them and their families when they need it. Everybody understands that.
“We want to make sure that we have got schools which are fit for the future so that every child can go as far as their talent will take them, and I absolutely wanted to bear down and reduce the cost of living, because for most of your viewers that will be the single most important thing.”
Now, GB News is asking: Do you accept sacrifices must be made to protect our public services?