Prepare for the Chancellor to announce ‘chunky tax increases’

Senior Labour MPs are warning there will be further tax increases after the Prime Minister announced the UK is preparing for war.

The new strategic defence review (SDR) has insisted that the UK must now prepare to be “war fighting readiness” as Britain is facing a “new era of threat” and will have to rebuild the hollowed out military.

Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday he is “100% confident” over the SDR recommendations, but economists have warned taxpayers will be paying for the £6 billion investment into the armed forces.

Head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank Paul Johnson told Times Radio: “[There would need to be] some really quite chunky tax increases.”

An MP from the Green Party has accused Starmer of being “on a war path” over Monday’s defence plans.

Green Party MP Ellie Chowns said, “Keir Starmer is sounding like he is on a war path with his ‘battle-ready, armour-clad nation’ rhetoric.

“Security is not just based on arms expenditure and threats, but on real leadership that uses diplomacy and development too.

“There must be a real commitment to an international order based on human rights, equality and genuine cooperation.

“To avoid the horrors of war and armed conflict, we need to look at the deeper causes of insecurity, including poverty and climate breakdown.

“This is why the Green Party strongly supports the restoration of the international aid budget to at least 0.7 per cent of GNI.

“We will continue to argue that real patriotism means ending UK-made weapons or components being sold to dictators, human rights abusers or for use against civilians anywhere in the world.”

The former Labour Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said, “Taxes will have to rise. I don’t see any alternative to that and at the same time, there will have to be some quite difficult retrenchment, particularly on parts of the social security budget.”