Is this the budget Britain needs? Our panel responds | Frances Ryan and others

In Labour’s first budget for almost 15 years, Rachel Reeves has unveiled tax rises and promises of investment in public services

Here comes Labour defining itself at last with the biggest tax-raising budget in a lifetime: the £70bn in new spending – with £40bn coming from raised taxation – is big enough to see from space. This should lift the public mood, after the chancellor committed to economic change with her “invest, invest, invest” message. She demolished the Tory legacy after the OBR’s verdict: they had hidden debts – and now they have run for the hills. Her tone of authority rang out to the markets, responding at first by setting their prices in her favour. Then they wavered: will they settle?

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

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