Britons have given a damning verdict on Rachel Reeves’s Budget, with nearly six out of 10 saying Labour has not kept its promise not to raise taxes on working people. A mere 16% think the Government has kept its flagship commitment.

The YouGov polling will hike pressure on the Chancellor, who chose to freeze income tax thresholds for an extra three years in a bid expected to raise £12.7billion by 2030-31.

Labour’s manifesto states: “Labour will not increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT.”

When the public were asked if they thought Labour had kept this pledge, 45% of Labour voters said the party has broken it, with just 25% claiming it has kept it.

Liberal Democrat voters were more sympathetic, with nearly one in three (32%) saying Labour has kept the pledge – although 48% said they thought it has broken it.

Around eight out of 10 Conservative (80%) and Reform UK (78%) voters said the party had not kept its pre-election promise.

Labour will hope it can shift blame for its most controversial decisions to the Tories.

Sixteen per cent of the public said the Budget decisions were mainly due to the “public finances that the previous Conservative Government left behind”. And three in (29%) said the measures were equally due to Labour and the Conservatives.

However, 37% blamed the “choices of the current Labour Government”. This was the case for 71% of Conservative voters, 69% of Reform UK voters, 22% of Lib Dem voters and 18% of Labour voters.

Former Conservative Chancellor George Osborne told the Political Currency podcast: “The increase in income tax caused by freezing the thresholds is a breach of the manifesto.”

He added: “The problem with pretending you haven’t broken that manifesto commitment is you end up being very defensive.”