UK tax hikes to placate bond markets likely to be costly for Reeves

British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, visits a Primark store in London, Nov 24, 2025. Reeves is now the most unpopular finance minister since records began. — Reuters

RACHEL Reeves may have placated the bond market with her budget on Wednesday but higher taxes for Britons on everything from milkshakes to electrical vehicles are unlikely to lift the gloom around the country, or her party, any time soon.

British finance minister Reeves announced more than £26bil (US$34bil) in tax rises, on top of the £40bil pounds she raised last year, prompting the official budget forecaster to warn of a large hit to growth in living standards.