Unemployment in Britain is on course to climb to its highest level in five years as businesses brace for another round of tax rises under Chancellor Rachel Reeves, according to new forecasts. Reeves is grappling with a potential £50bn hole in the public finances caused by weak growth and costly policy U-turns. She has already overseen a record £40bn tax raid on business, including a hike in employer National Insurance contributions branded a “jobs tax”. Economists have also suggested windfall taxes on gambling companies and reform of council tax bands for homes worth more than £1m. James Nation, a former Treasury adviser under Rishi Sunak, warned that increasing capital gains tax would be “a hard political sell”.