Labour doubles down on opposition to tax hikes

Rishi Sunak kept his Budget cards close to his chest this morning as he toured the studios for both BBC One’s The Andrew Marr show and Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday. The Chancellor batted away questions about spending and possible tax hikes, repeating over and over again that it’s only ‘appropriate’ to wait until the fiscal event this Wednesday to reveal the details of his plans.

There were hints towards areas that have taken the Chancellor’s interest, including a passing comment about ‘business investment’ on Sky News – a bugbear of many on the right, who have long-argued that the UK’s corporate tax rate regime is ungenerous to businesses that would invest money into making their company more efficient. He told Sophy Ridge that her question from Andy in aviation, who had written to the show to ask about furlough extension, was an important one – with answers to come.

But from a specific policy perspective, we didn’t learn much more this morning than what has already been made public, including a £5 billion high street grant, which is set to give shops and pubs up to £18,000 each to support their reopening in the months to come.