Reeves tells businesses there will be no more tax increases as she defends the budget.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has told businesses she is “not coming back with more debt or more tax” as she defended the tax hike on businesses announced in the Budget.

Reeves told the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference that despite “a lot of feedback” on his tax and spending plans, he had not heard many alternatives.

His comments come as the boss of biscuit giant McVitie’s warned that the case for investment in the UK is “getting harder to understand” following the Chancellor’s decisions.

Reeves announced an increase in public spending of around £70 billion in his first budget last month, more than half of which would come from higher taxes.

Businesses will bear the brunt of the tax hike due to the chancellor’s increase in employer pay into National Insurance, as well as lowering the threshold at which they start paying it.

There has been a backlash to the announced measures, with firms warning in April not only of higher taxes, but also higher minimum wages, higher business rates, as well as costs associated with new workers’ rights. Affect jobs and salaries. – and ultimately hit the government’s target of growing the UK economy.

But Reeves told industry leaders his budget “provided the stability and platform we need to move forward”.

Asked if she could confirm there would be no further business tax increases, Reeves said: “I’ve faced a problem, and I’ve faced it… We’ve done our has put the public finances back on a firmer footing, and we now set the budget for public services for the term of this Parliament.

“Public services now need to stay within their means because I’m really clear, I’m not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes.”

While minimum wage increases and labor rights reforms have been welcomed by unions and labor groups, employers have said businesses are slowing down due to a number of changes implemented at the same time, including: Some have called for them to be “phased out”.

Earlier in his speech to the conference on Monday, CBI boss Ren Newton-Smith argued that “tax increases like this should never be just for business”.

He said the policy changes meant businesses were “facing a tough trading environment that just got tougher”.

“When you target profits, you affect competition, you affect investment. You affect growth,” he added.

Ms Newton-Smith cited a recent CBI survey, which found almost two-thirds of the 185 companies that responded said the Budget would hurt UK investment.

Salman Amin, the boss of McVitie’s, said that most of his investment had come into the UK over the past decade, but the case for investment in the country was “getting harder to understand”.

“What strikes me is that in the race for growth, we are turning our backs on the industries that have built Britain for decades,” he added.

Meanwhile, CBI chairman Rupert Soames said the budget had made young, part-time and low-paid staff “more expensive”.

Speaking after Ms Reeves’ appearance, he said: “There are a number of things in the Budget that are helpful. For example, the corporate tax roadmap.

But there is no doubt that business has been milked like a cash cow in this budget.

last week, A group of major retailers including Tesco, Amazon and Next also wrote to the chancellor To warn him about the impact of tax changes.

Firms such as Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer have said they will face huge cost increases. And they may need to raise prices for consumers.

However, others have argued that asking multi-million pound companies to pay more in tax is a great way to improve funding for services such as the NHS.

“No one is questioning that we need to see a tax increase to really help fund our public services,” said Miss Newton-Smith, head of the CBI.

But he said firms had been surprised by the lowering of the threshold for National Insurance payouts, and that the pain was “really serious”.

In his speech, he urged the government to consider a number of reforms to improve economic growth, such as giving companies more flexibility in how they spend money using the apprenticeship levy.

He also said the chancellor should consider updating business rates for commercial properties as well as simplifying the planning system.

Conservative leader Cammy Badenoch told the CBI conference that he was concerned that the tax burden on businesses was increasing.

“The new government believes that invisible businesses can afford these costs, but everyday people bear the brunt, either in higher prices or lower wages, sometimes both,” said the former business secretary. Business Secretary said.