Raise £12bn in budget by extending income tax thresholds freeze, says thinktank

Rachel Reeves is expected to have to find £10bn to £30bn in annual tax increases or spending cuts to meet her fiscal rules. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

The influential Labour thinktank the Fabian Society is urging Rachel Reeves to raise £12bn in next month’s budget by extending the freeze on income tax thresholds for another two years.

Joe Dromey, the Fabians’ general secretary, argues in a new report that the move is the “best available option” for the chancellor as she seeks to offset the impact of weaker economic forecasts in her 26 November statement.