The chancellor has refused to rule out inheritance and capital gains tax rises after Sir Keir Starmer warned the autumn budget will be “painful”.

Rachel Reeves would not answer “yes” or “no” three times when asked on Wednesday if she could specifically rule out raising the two taxes at the budget this October.

The previous day, Sir Keir Starmer said the October budget is “going to be painful” in his biggest hint yet taxes will rise.

Follow live politics updates

Labour repeatedly said during the election campaign, and since, they would not increase income tax, national insurance and VAT but avoided answering whether other taxes would rise.

Inheritance tax, charged on the estate of someone who has died, and capital gains tax, imposed on the profit from the sale of capital assets, have been touted as the two most likely to see a rise.

Asked on Wednesday if she would be increasing those, Ms Reeves said: “I’m not going to write a budget two months ahead of delivering it.

“We’re going to have to make difficult decisions in a range of areas.”

Asked again if she could rule out increasing them, she said: “On spending, on welfare, and tax, we’re going to have to make a series of difficult decisions, but I’ll set out that detail in the right and proper way on the 30 October at that budget.”

And given a third opportunity to rule out those rises, she said: “I’ll set out the budget on 30 October.”

Read more:
Which tax rises could Labour introduce?

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News App. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Related posts:

Trump said he would pay £100,000 ‘not to hear Theresa May talk’ Priti Patel faces calls to resign as court rules barracks housing for asylum seekers unlawful What is ‘Freedom Day’ in England likely to look like – and will it go ahead on 19 July? At least one No 10 official fined for lockdown-busting ‘bring your own booze’ party, Sky News understands Dominic Cummings says Met Police never sent him a partygate questionnaire Conservative leadership race: What time is the result and what happens next? ‘You’re the journalist, not me’ | James Cleverly and Sharon Graham Rishi Sunak: Labour attacks on my wealth ‘don’t bother me’ PM to call on investors to match Ukraine’s ‘bravery on the battlefield’ by helping country’s economic recovery Longest strike in NHS history leads to over 113,000 cancellations – and impact may last for ‘months’ ‘Stars could not be more aligned against us’: Senior Tories predict loss in Blackpool by-election The powder keg of prisons is now Labour’s responsibility