内容摘要：Stephen Atkinson, the former leader of Ribble Valley Borough Council, who defected to Reform from the Tories in March and was elected last week as the county councillor for Ribble Valley South West, has said he will be putting his name forward.

Stephen Atkinson, the former leader of Ribble Valley Borough Council, who defected to Reform from the Tories in March and was elected last week as the county councillor for Ribble Valley South West, has said he will be putting his name forward.

Asked if rising costs to pay for higher wages and taxes would lead to job cuts and less investment, Mr Mackenzie said: "If you keep pushing costs into business then that is going to happen."A Conservative Party spokesman said "any increase will be well and truly eroded if Labour announces tax rises on working people" in reference to Wednesday's Budget.

Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, defended the rise."Every time the minimum wage goes up there are some voices who predict this will drive up unemployment. Every time they are wrong," he said.Claire Reindorp, chief executive of Young Women’s Trust, also supported the increase, stating that women were "more likely to be in low-paid work, so for too long they’ve been at the sharp end of the financial crisis in this country".

There has been speculation over the tax rises Labour will announce, with Reeves claiming there is a £22bn "hole" in the public finances to be addressed.National Insurance, paid by employers on top of the wages they pay out, is one of several taxes expected to be

Employers currently pay a rate of 13.8% on a worker's earnings above £175 a week.

But Reeves is also expected to lower the threshold for when employers start paying the tax. The two measures combined are expected to raise about £20bn.Attacking the Tories and Plaid Cymru, Drakeford told the Senedd: "There is no other budget that can be endorsed here this afternoon."

He said voting against it was a "vote against" extra treatments in the NHS, the employment of teachers, extra child care places and other policies.Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth intervened and accused Drakeford of a "spurious argument".

"Whilst we can agree with elements of the budget, of course we can – this is a flawed Labour budget."Drakeford responded: "If you were to succeed everything I have outlined this afternoon would be lost."