Deputy prime minister to face PMQs after chancellor Rachel Reeves refuses to rule out tax rises

The Deputy prime minister will face Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday after the UK chancellor once again refused to rule out tax rises in the upcoming Autumn Budget.

David Lammy will lead PMQs for the first time on Wednesday, filling in for Keir Starmer while he is out of the country to attend the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil.

Rachel Reeves took the unusual step of delivering a “scene setter” speech on Tuesday, three weeks ahead of her Budget.

The chancellor declined to recommit to Labour’s manifesto commitments not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT.

She instead warned that “we will all have to contribute” to securing the country’s economic future.

The Budget will focus on cutting NHS waiting lists, and addressing the cost of living crisis, the chancellor said, as well as reducing the burden of interest on government debt.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research, a major economic think tank, said the chancellor must plug a £50bn black hole in the nation’s public finances and give herself larger fiscal headroom.

It suggested a 2p rise in income tax was likely needed to address the hole, echoing a similar suggestion by the Resolution Foundation, another think tank which has been influential upon the Government’s thinking.

Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride has already suggested that Reeves must stand down if she goes ahead with tax rises, and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch could take a similar line.

PMQs will be broadcast from the House of Commons at midday on Wednesday.