She is expected to increase National Insurance on employers possibly on their pension contributions, despite a warning by former Labour Cabinet minister Lord Blunkett against the move, to raise capital gains tax and inheritance tax, freeze the thresholds for paying income tax for another two years, and make changes to stamp duty.

Rachel Reeves: I’ll be setting out two fiscal rules at the budget next week. The first is the stability rule to pay for the spending through tax receipts. That was something that the previous government weren’t even trying to do, let alone able to meet. That’s really important because that’s about the sustainability of the public finances.