Rachel Reeves to give major speech today amid speculation over tax rises

The Chancellor is due to give an unusual pre-Budget speech today

The Chancellor will address the nation from Downing Street, in an unusual move before the official Budget on 26 November.

There is widespread speculation that Labour is due to break its manifesto commitments on tax rises, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer warning MPs last night of the need for "tough but fair" decisions.

Starmer told Labour MPs that the budget "takes place against a difficult economic backdrop".

"It's becoming clearer the long-term impact of Tory austerity, their botched Brexit deal and the pandemic on Britain's productivity is worse than even we feared," he said.

"Faced with that, we will make the tough but fair decisions to renew our country and build it for the long term."

Sir Keir refused to rule out breaking his party's commitments to not increasing VAT, income tax or national insurance during last week's Prime Minister's Questions.

Labour's election manifesto read: "We will ensure taxes on working people are kept as low as possible. Labour will not increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase national insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of income tax, or VAT".

The rumours on tax hikes come as the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) downgraded its productivity growth predictions for the UK, leaving Reeves with a hole of up to £30bn to fill.