Chancellor Rachel Reeves put a £29 billion-a-year rise in NHS funding at the heart of her spending plans but other Whitehall budgets will be squeezed and experts warned tax rises may be needed later this year.
Ms Reeves acknowledged that “too many people in too many parts of our country” were yet to feel the benefits of the change they voted for when Labour was swept to power last year as she pushed money towards projects outside of London and south-east England.
