Rachel Reeves said she will not take Britain "back to austerity" - and promised to "take action to help families with the cost of living".

She said she will "push ahead with the biggest drive for growth in a generation", promising investment in infrastructure, housing, security, defence, education, and skills.

But following a downgrade in the productivity growth forecast - combined with the U-turns on the winter fuel allowance and benefits cuts, as well as "heightened global uncertainty" - the chancellor is expected to announce a series of tax rises as she tries to plug an estimated £30bn black hole in the public finances.

Conservative shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride has said Ms Reeves is "trying to pull the wool over your eyes", having promised last year she would not need to raise taxes again. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper has accused her and the prime minister of "yet more betrayals".

'Smorgasbord' of tax rises

A headline tax-raising measure is expected to be an extension of the freeze on income tax thresholds for another two years beyond 2028, which should raise about £8bn.

This move will be seized upon by opposition parties, given that the chancellor said at last year's budget that extending the freeze, first brought in by the Tories in April 2021 to raise revenue amid vast spending during the pandemic, "would hurt working people" and "take more money out of their payslips".

What is being described as a "smorgasbord" of tax rises is also expected to be announced, having backed away from a manifesto-breaching income tax rise.

Some measures already confirmed by the government include:

• Allowing local authorities to impose a levy on tourists staying in their areas

• Expanding the sugar tax levy to packaged milkshakes and lattes

• Imposing extra taxes on higher-value properties

It is being reported that the chancellor will also put a cap on the tax-free allowance for salary sacrifice schemes, raise taxes on gambling firms, and bring in a pay-per-mile scheme for electric vehicles.

What could her key spending announcements be?

As well as filling the black hole in the public finances, these measures could allow the chancellor to spend money on a key demand of Labour MPs - partially or fully lifting the two-child benefits cap, which they say will have an immediate impact on reducing child poverty.

Benefits more broadly will be uprated in line with inflation, at a cost of £6bn, The Times reports.

In an attempt to help households with the cost of the living, the paper also reports that the chancellor will seek to cut energy bills by removing some green levies, which could see funding for some energy efficiency measures reduced.

Other measures The Times says she will announce include retaining the 5p cut in fuel duty, and extending the Electric Car Grant by an extra year, which gives consumers a £3,750 discount at purchase.

The government has already confirmed several key announcements, including:

• An above-inflation £550 a year increase in the state pension for 13 million eligible pensioners

• A freeze in prescription prices and rail fares

• £5m to refresh libraries in secondary schools

Extra funding for the NHS will also be announced in a bid to slash waiting lists, including the expansion of the "Neighbourhood Health Service" across the country to bring together GP, nursing, dentistry and pharmacy services - as well as £300m of investment into upgrading technology in the health service.

And although the cost of this is borne by businesses, the chancellor will confirm a 4.1% rise to the national living wage - taking it to £12.71 an hour for eligible workers aged 21 and over.

For a full-time worker over the age of 21, that means a pay increase of £900 a year.

Read more from Sky News:
Reeves issues 'pick 'n' mix' warning ahead of budget
Are we set for another astoundingly complex budget?

Britons facing 'cost of living permacrisis'

However, the Tories have hit out at the chancellor for the impending tax rises, with shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride saying in a statement: "Having already raised taxes by £40bn, Reeves said she had wiped the slate clean, she wouldn't be coming back for more, and it was now on her. A year later and she is set to break that promise."

He described her choices as "political weakness" - choosing "higher welfare and higher taxes", and "hardworking families are being handed the bill".

The Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper is also not impressed, and warned last night: "The economy is at a standstill. Despite years of promises from the Conservatives and now Labour to kickstart growth and clamp down on crushing household bills, the British people are facing a cost-of-living permacrisis and yet more betrayals from those in charge."

She called on the government to negotiate a new customs union with the EU, which she argues would "grow our economy and bring in tens of billions for the Exchequer".

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has demanded "bold policies and bold choices that make a real difference to ordinary people".

The amount people pay is dependent on how much they earn, with different tax bands kicking in at different income levels.

Read more: Chancellor to announce tax rises in budget

In the past, these thresholds have been increased in line with inflation. But more recently they have been frozen, leaving people paying more to the exchequer even if actual tax rates stay the same.

The Conservative government began the thresholds freeze in 2021. At last year's budget, Rachel Reeves said the Labour government would extend the freeze though not beyond 2028, as to do so would "hurt working people".

Sky News looks at what the thresholds are, the implications of freezing them, and how that causes "fiscal drag".

Income tax thresholds

England, Northern Ireland and Wales all have the same income tax rates, set by the British government.

Scotland's income tax bands are set by the Scottish government, so Westminster budget announcements on income tax do not affect workers in Scotland.

For England, Northern Ireland and Wales, there is a "personal allowance" of £12,570, under which no income tax is paid.

For those earning above £100,000, the personal allowance goes down by £1 for every £2 of income, and can go down to zero, so a person can end up paying income tax on all of their income.

What does freezing thresholds do?

Thresholds were previously increased annually by consumer price index (CPI) inflation - the estimate of the level of prices of goods and services bought by households.

But, because income tax thresholds have been frozen while wages continue to rise, more people are being brought into higher bands and having to pay more income tax.

A worker whose earnings just keep up with inflation is paying a larger proportion of their salary in tax due to the freeze.

This means more money for the government - a lot more.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimates a continuing freeze in thresholds would raise about £42.9bn annually by the 2027/28 tax year.

And the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has projected that freezes to the basic and higher rates of income tax alone would raise £39bn a year by 2029-30.

That is roughly similar to the amount of revenue that would be raised by increasing all income tax rates by 3.5 percentage points.

Fiscal drag

Freezing income tax thresholds without tax rates increasing has been branded a "stealth tax", as the government collects more revenue without having to pass a law to raise tax rates.

It is also known as fiscal drag, as more people are pulled into paying tax, or into paying tax at a higher rate.

The OBR estimates the freeze will bring nearly four million more people into paying income tax, three million more people into the higher rate (40%) and 400,000 more into the additional rate (45%) by 2028-29.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One as he flew out to his Florida estate for Thanksgiving, Mr Trump said "we're making progress" on a deal and said he would be willing to meet with both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy once they are close to an agreement.

He also said his previously announced deadline of Thursday, which is Thanksgiving, was no longer in place - and that the White House's initial 28-point peace plan, which sparked such concern in Kyiv, "was just a map".

Asked if Ukraine had been asked to hand over too much territory, Mr Trump suggested that "over the next couple of months [that] might be gotten by Russia anyway".

Moscow's concessions are a promise to stop fighting, "and they don't take any more land", he said.

"The deadline for me is when it's over," he added. "And I think everybody's tired of fighting at this moment."

Before boarding the plane, Mr Trump had claimed only a few "points of disagreement" remain between the two sides.

Mr Trump's negotiator Steve Witkoff will be meeting with Mr Putin in Moscow next week, the president said, while American army secretary Daniel Driscoll is due to travel to Kyiv for talks this week.

The chief of Ukraine's presidential staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote: "Ukraine has never been and will never be an obstacle to peace. We are grateful to the US for all its support.

"The meeting between the presidents will be thoroughly and promptly prepared on our part."

Zelenskyy warns against 'behind our back' deal

Yesterday, a virtual "coalition of the willing" meeting that featured Ukraine's allies took place, which was attended by US secretary of state Marco Rubio.

In a speech, Mr Zelenskyy told attendees: "We firmly believe security decisions about Ukraine must include Ukraine, security decisions about Europe must include Europe.

"Because when something is decided behind the back of a country or its people, there is always a high risk it simply won't work."

A joint statement from coalition leaders Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, and Friedrich Merz said they had agreed with Mr Rubio "to accelerate joint work" with the US on the planning of security guarantees for Ukraine.

But a Ukrainian diplomat has warned major sticking points remain in the peace deal being thrashed out - primarily the prospect of territorial concessions.

A warning from the Kremlin

Meanwhile, Moscow has stressed that it will not allow any agreement to stray too far from its own objectives.

Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned any amended peace plan must reflect the understanding reached between Mr Trump and Mr Putin over the summer.

"If the spirit and letter of Anchorage is erased in terms of the key understandings we have established then, of course, it will be a fundamentally different situation," he said, referring to the two leaders' meeting in Alaska.

Read more:
Zelenskyy races to beat Trump's peace plan deadline
In full: Europe's 28-point counterproposal

As negotiations continue, so have Russian attacks, with Kyiv hit by a barrage of missiles and hundreds of drones early yesterday morning.

Seven people were killed with power and heating systems disrupted, as residents sheltered underground.

Meanwhile, three people died and homes were damaged after Ukraine launched an attack on southern Russia.

'A critical juncture'

French President Emmanuel Macron has said peace efforts are gathering momentum, but "are clearly at a critical juncture".

And during the annual White House turkey pardon ahead of Thanksgiving, Mr Trump told reporters: "I think we're getting close to a deal. We'll find out.

"I thought that would have been an easier one, but I think we're making progress."

It was the middle of the night in DC when a tweet dropped from Ukraine's national security advisor, Rustem Umerov.

He said that the US and Ukraine had reached a "common understanding on the core terms of the agreement discussed in Geneva."

He added that Volodymyr Zelenskyy would travel to America "at the earliest suitable date in November to complete final steps and make a deal with President Trump".

Ukraine latest: 'Delicate' deal details must be sorted, White House says

By sunrise in Washington, a US official was using similar but not identical language to frame progress.

The official, speaking anonymously to US media, said that Ukraine had "agreed" to Trump's peace proposal "with some minor details to be worked out".

In parallel, it's emerged that talks have been taking place in Abu Dhabi. The Americans claim to have met both Russian and Ukrainian officials there, though the Russians have not confirmed attendance.

"I have nothing to say. We are following the media reports," Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin's spokesperson, told Russian state media.

Trump is due to travel to his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago tonight, where he will remain until Sunday.

He set a deadline of Thursday - Thanksgiving - for some sort of agreement on his plan.

We know the plan has been changed from its original form, but it's clear that Zelenskyy wants to be seen to agree to something quickly - that would go down well with President Trump.

Read more:
US hails 'tremendous progress' on Ukraine peace plan
In full: Europe's 28-point counter proposal

My sense is that Zelenskyy will try to get to Mar-a-Lago as soon as he can. Before Thursday would be a push but would meet Trump's deadline.

It will then be left for the Russians to state their position on the revised document.

All indications are that they will reject it. But maybe the secret Abu Dhabi talks will yield something.

A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesperson said on Tuesday the two-week pause comes after "a small number of soldiers reported symptoms of noise and vibration" in the exercise, which was "immediately stopped".

The spokesperson said "around 30 personnel presented noise and vibration symptoms" after tests were carried out, but the "vast majority of these have now been medically cleared and are continuing on duty".

A small number "continue to receive expert medical care", they said.

"Out of an abundance of caution, the minister for defence readiness and industry [Luke Pollard] has asked the army to pause all use of Ajax for training and exercising for two weeks, while a safety investigation is carried out into the events this weekend.

"A small amount of testing of the vehicle will continue, in order to ensure that any issues can to identified and resolved."

The MoD said the decision "underlines our absolute commitment to the safety of our personnel. As with any major equipment programme, we continue to test and refine the vehicle to ensure safety and performance".

"The safety of our personnel is our top priority," the spokesperson said.

The Ajax, which costs nearly £10m and weighs more than 40 tonnes, is being billed by the ministry as a "next generation" fighting machine.

As heavy as a Russian tank, the vehicle is equipped with cameras, protective armour and a 40mm gun, with bullets that can rip through concrete.

Soldiers were taken to hospital this summer after suffering hearing and other injuries because of loud noise and vibrations coming from the vehicles.

Earlier this month, the MoD confirmed that a "small number" of troops had reported noise and vibration concerns following trials on three variants of the tracked vehicle.

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A spokesperson said an investigation was carried out and "no systemic issues were found".

An internal review published in 2021 found that senior soldiers and MoD officials had known for up to two years that earlier faults with the Ajax vehicle had been putting troops at risk of harm.

The health and safety report revealed that issues such as potential hearing damage had first been raised in December 2018, but trials were not suspended until November 2020.

At that time, more than 300 soldiers were offered hearing tests, with 17 still under specialist care as of December 2021.

A total of 589 of the various Ajax models have been ordered by the army, which it expects to receive by 2030.

The Ajax could be deployed to Ukraine to support any possible peace deal, the MoD has indicated.