Boris Johnson's tax proposals would cost many billions and benefit the wealthy the most, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Mr Johnson, the front-runner in the race to lead the Conservative Party, has outlined plans to raise the threshold for the highest rate of income tax to £80,000.
Inequalities in pay and opportunities in the UK are becoming so extreme they are threatening democracy, an Institute for Fiscal Studies study has said. The think tank warns of runaway incomes for high earners but rises in “deaths of despair”, such as from addiction and suicide, among the poorest.
Philip Hammond must spend billions extra to end austerity, says think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). To maintain per capita spending across government departments which don't have ring-fenced budgets, he must find an extra £5bn a year by 2023, it adds. And maintaining spending on unprotected services as a share of national income would require £11bn on top of spending plans set out in the 2018 Budget.