UK chancellor says she had not known true picture of public finances but no need to increase taxes further after budget

Rachel Reeves has admitted she was wrong to say before the election that no major tax rises would be needed, but promised there was “no need to increase taxes further” after last week’s budget raised £40bn.

The UK chancellor said she had not known the true picture of the “huge black hole in public finances” left by the Conservatives, which the government says amounted to £22bn. “I was wrong on June 11, I didn’t know everything,” she said.