George Osborne was joined on a treasury select committee panel by former business secretary Vince Cable to share what they thought should be in the upcoming Budget on 26 November.

Labour MP Jim Dickson asked the panel if they had any ideas that the chancellor could adopt to increase tax revenues.

Osborne said: ‘Tax rises are inevitable, I would say you’ve got to put them alongside expenditure reductions and constraints. The chancellor is getting it right in saying "I’ve set out fiscal rules and I’m sticking by them". This government and the country will come completely unanchored and vulnerable to bond market pressures if it just abandons these rules.

‘Having set the rules, and they are pretty sensible rules, you then face the problem of a Budget deficit at almost five percent and debt at nearly 100% GDP. I think to say it’s all going to be done with tax is as wrong as saying it’s all going to be done with public expenditure cuts.’

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