Conservatives urge Burnham to rule out tax rises at Budget

The Conservatives are urging Prime Minister Andy Burnham to rule out tax rises at next month's Budget.

Speaking to the BBC ahead of his first major speech as shadow chancellor, Andrew Griffith said young people were "seeking their fortune" elsewhere due to high taxes in the UK.

He did not confirm reports the Conservatives could pledge to scrap inheritance tax, saying he would "love" to cut the tax but it would have to be "subject to an ability to set out properly how we would fund that".

Labour said: "We won't take any lectures from the Tories on the economy – not least when it was only last week that Griffith was praising the 'lots of good things' in Liz Truss's disastrous mini-budget."

The Labour spokesperson added: "The chancellor is fully focused on his priorities: giving families and businesses breathing space, backing British jobs, and driving growth in every postcode, underpinned by a commitment to meet the fiscal rules."

Chancellor John Healey is due to set out his Budget on 28 October against a backdrop of rising inflation and global energy prices.

On Thursday, trade unions will meet the chancellor to push for their proposals, with the Unite union urging the government to reverse the freezing of tax thresholds.

Burnham has warned that the Budget would be "challenging" due to the war in the Middle East but insisted he was prepared to take "difficult decisions" on the economy.

Faisal Islam: Chancellor's attempts to boost vibes may limit tax rises

Griffith - who was appointed as shadow chancellor last month - told the BBC, Labour had raised taxes at its last two Budgets and that the "pips are well and truly squeaking".

In addition to ruling out tax rises, he said the government should "pause job-destroying red tape" adding: "Whatever its intentions it is causing a real chill in the vacancy market."

The Conservatives pointed to figures from the Federation of Small Businesses estimating that tax compliance costs small businesses £25bn a year and the average small business spends 44 hours a year on tax admin.

The party has appointed Lord Mackinlay of Richborough, the former South Thanet MP , and Robert Colvile, the outgoing director of the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, to produce a report on reducing regulations for small businesses.

Griffith said governments have to "balance the books" and that the Conservatives would change the welfare system, "prune" back the amount spent on foreign aid and cut "some of the central cost of Whitehall" in order to save money.