TAX the super-rich instead of slashing services, Chancellor Rachel Reeves was told today, on the eve of her Commons statement, expected to announce more public spending cuts.

Campaigners from a range of charities and voluntary organisations are set to rally outside the Treasury this evening to demand a wealth tax instead of “austerity with a red rosette” in the words of a leading trade unionist.

And former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, presently suspended from the Labour whip, has warned that Ms Reeves was in danger of making Labour “just another austerity party” if she missed a last chance to change course.