Tax rises will hit growth and hiring, CBI warns, as Reeves prepares to defend budget – business live

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Rachel Reeves is expected to tell business leaders that they have offered “no alternatives” to her plans, in a defiant defence of her tax-raising budget today.

Reeves will tell the CBI’s annual conference in Westminster that no one has offered a better solution to the challenging situation left behind by the previous, Conservative government.

“We have asked businesses and the wealthiest to contribute more. I know those choices will have an impact. But I stand by those choices as the right choices for our country: investment to fix the NHS and rebuild Britain, while ensuring working people don’t face higher taxes in their payslips.”

“What really defines growth – is the decisions made in boardrooms up and down the country.

It’s CFOs and CEOs asking: can we afford to invest? Can we afford to expand? Can we afford to take a chance on new people?

When you hit profits, you hit competitiveness, you hit investment. You hit growth. Continue reading...