Chancellor Rachel Reeves has reportedly abandoned plans to break Labour’s manifesto pledge by raising income tax in this month’s Autumn Budget, sending officials back to redraw proposals as the government confronts a significant hole in the public finances.

The chancellor had been widely expected to announce a 2p rise in income tax while cutting national insurance by the same amount, a move that would have breached Labour’s commitment not to raise taxes on “working people”.

Senior ministers had recently hinted at a softening of that stance, citing a fiscal gap estimated at around £30bn.

However, according to the Financial Times, the first list of “major measures” submitted to the Office for Budget Responsibility this week did not include an income tax rise.

The apparent retreat follows warnings from within Labour that breaking a central manifesto promise would risk alienating both voters and backbench MPs.

Deputy leader Lucy Powell previously said such a move would damage “trust in politics”.

The shift leaves Reeves facing narrower options to raise substantial revenue while sticking to her fiscal rules on debt and borrowing, and without resorting to the “deep cuts” to public investment she ruled out earlier in the week.