Day: November 5, 2025

Deputy PM stands in for Keir Starmer, who has flown to the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil, and will address fallout from Reeves’ pre-budget speech yesterday

Good morning. David Lammy will get his first outing at PMQs today as deputy prime minister, because Keir Starmer is off to the Cop30 climate conference in Brazil. That means he will have the job of dealing with all the questions raised by Rachel Reeves’s speech yesterday that came close to confirming income tax will rise in the budget.

While there is considerable controversy about what measures the budget should contain, in an unusual developments leftwing and rightwing thinktanks have joined up to say that the structure of the tax system needs to be reformed. Olivia Konotey-Ahulu has the story.

The UK’s tax code is riddled with inconsistencies and distortions that discourage investment, penalise work and hold back productivity. There is widespread agreement on the need for proper reform. The upcoming Budget is an opportunity for the chancellor to look at the taxsystem as a whole, and ensure that whatever the total tax take, any changes are also serving her growth mission.

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