Rachel Reeves is due to deliver her Spring Statement this week and it’s probably safe to say this isn’t the position she wanted to be in.
After an Autumn Budget that raised spending and hiked taxes while locking the Chancellor in with a new fiscal rule, Reeves would have hoped to arrive in March with better news on the economy.
Instead, Labour’s not-a-tax-on-working-people national insurance hike on employers has backfired, at the same time as the growth forecasts have taken a downturn and borrowing costs have risen.
So, what will the Chancellor do next week? Will she tweak her own fiscal rule, raise taxes again or cut spending in unprotected areas that are already suffering?
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As Rachel Reeves finds herself between a rock and a hard place, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert look at what could happen in this podcast.
Plus, what does the Bank of England holding rates and the potential future path mean for your savings and mortgage?
What should you do to sort your Isa and pension now?
Can you really give away £1million a year and dodge inheritance tax?
And finally, the question that anyone like Simon who racks up the odd foreign traffic infraction needs answered, if you get a holiday parking fine, do you have to pay it?
Read More: Rachel Reeves is between a rock and a hard place – will it cost you more tax? This is