I don't understand why, as a young, hardworking father with two children, a massive mortgage and few savings, I'm being asked to pay significantly higher taxes to subsidise a triple-locked pension and a bloating welfare bill. Seriously unfair.

Labour's choices will focus on the priorities of the British people: cutting the cost of living, cutting waiting lists, and cutting the national debt.

🚨 NEW: Rachel Reeves will announce an above inflation 4.8% rise to the state pension in the Budget

If I asked you which country has the most progressive tax system in the developed world — where high earners hand over an especially large share of their income relative to the average worker — what would your answer be? The answer is in fact Britain. on.ft.com/3KfzmDq

I grew up in a household where every pound mattered. I know what it feels like for families trying to get to the end of the month. We’re rolling out free breakfast clubs nationwide to help families with the cost of living and giving every child the best start in life.

Britain is a great country to be a low earner in, and a terrible country to be a high earner

We’re also hearing that the OBR’s fiscal forecasts are better than expected, as result of stronger wage growth and therefore higher tax receipts. It means Rachel Reeves doesn’t need to put up basic rate of income tax to fill lower than expected fiscal gap: the politics of that were proving just too hard with disagreement w/in cabinet and anxiety among Labour MPs over manifesto breach. But - not least because she wants bigger than before headroom to protect against future risks - we’re still expecting chancellor to fill the gap through taxes. We were already expecting threshold freezes but now reducing thresholds for 40p and 45p rates also an option. Would drag more people into paying higher rates, esp given wage growth. Salary sacrifice schemes also likely to be hit. Ministers will hope that this will be seen as a fudge of manifesto promise - rather than blatant breach which would have made them first government in 50 years to hike basic rate of income tax.

NEW - we've data showing huge numbers of people reducing their income to avoid high marginal income tax rates. Not just at the £100k point (as previously reported). But at the £50k point:

🚨 NEW: UK unemployment has now hit 5%, its highest level since the pandemic

HMRC PAYE payrolls down 32k in Oct, biggest fall since Nov 2020

🚨 NEW: Rachel Reeves will use the Budget to impose a £2k-a-year limit on how much salary can go into a pension before paying National Insurance The move will raise £2bn and hit salary sacrifice schemes [@thetimes]

In a country that imposes a de facto 9% tax on graduates earning the average wage, the case against a 2% tax on multimillionaires looks remarkably weak

We should pay for the triple-lock by imposing 100% VAT on pensioners on Saturdays and Sundays - and for holidays booked by retirees during the school holidays.

BREAKING: Right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk 'hit' after shots fired at an event in Utah. "We must all pray for Charlie Kirk," says Donald Trump. Sky's @skydavidblevins shares the latest. trib.al/3BQfjY6 📺 Sky 501 and YouTube

Keir Starmer’s Labour government has hit an all time low approval rating. Now only 13% of British people approve of their record to date. Thats 10% LOWER than Liz Truss’s govt approval rating by the time she left office.

Gilt rates are higher than they were in October 2022. Yet there is no media outcry or negative commentary from the @bankofengland. Britain's institutions are complicit in this huge economic failure.