Rachel Reeves has reportedly ripped up her plans to hike up income tax in the Budget later this month.

As first reported by the Financial Times late last night , the chancellor unexpectedly decided to ditch her idea to raise income tax by 2p while dropping VAT by 2p, fearing backlash from already irate MPs and voters.

That was meant to raise more than £6 billion, a notable sum which would have help edthe chancellor plug the £30bn black hole in the public finances.

The “2 up, 2 down” move was also intended to push much of the financial burden onto landlords and pensioners, protecting the “working people”.

But hiking up income tax would be a breach of the Labour government’s manifesto pledge.

Successive governments have also avoided increasing this core tax out of fear of public back

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