Reeves dumps plan to raise income tax in screeching Budget U-turn sending spooked markets into slide

Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have ditched plans to break Labour's manifesto pledge and raise income tax spooking financial markets.

The Chancellor had been expected in the Budget on November 26 to hike income tax in the face of a yawning gap in her spending plans, hinting as recently as Monday that the alternative would be "deep cuts" to public investment.