Britain | Filling the fiscal hole

What taxes might Labour raise?

Growth alone will not fix Britain’s public finances

Britain's Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and Labour MP Rachel Reeves.
Photograph: Reuters

To win big in general elections, the Labour Party needs to convince fretful voters that it can be trusted with the economy. Clement Attlee sold post-war nationalisations with the mien of a staid bank manager. Ahead of the party’s landslide win in 1997, New Labour pledged to copy years of restrictive Tory spending targets. Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, has adopted a similar tactic ahead of Labour’s widely expected election win on July 4th.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Fiscal hole: needs filling”

Dawn of the solar age

From the June 22nd 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Britain

The evolution of Britain’s extreme right

White nationalism has become more amorphous and more online

Blighty newsletter: Labour is demolishing the Tories’ pet projects


Inside the unrest disfiguring English cities

Anger over immigration will be a recruiting opportunity for the far right


Was the Bank of England right to start lowering interest rates?

Andrew Bailey takes a calculated risk

What will Great British Energy do?

The new body’s first job is to unblock private investment

Britain’s railways go from one extreme to another

Departing: privatisation. Destination: centralisation