Business leaders have warned they face a “perfect storm” in the budget as they are hit by more taxes, higher wage bills and the cost of implementing Labour’s overhaul of workers’ rights.
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, will announce plans to increase employers’ national insurance contributions, which could raise up to £20 billion to fund investment in public services. She will also confirm a rise in the minimum wage of at least 6.7 per cent from April for more than three million workers, pushing up costs for companies.
Reeves will present her budget on Wednesday as a blueprint to grow the economy and create “wealth and opportunity for all” as she changes the fiscal rules to free up tens of billions of pounds for investment in