Rishi Sunak has outlined tax rises on companies and workers to pay for an additional £65bn of financial support to see Britain through the coronavirus pandemic, taking total government spending on the crisis to more than £400bn. Keir Starmer has signalled that Labour will back plans to increase corporation tax from 2023, reiterating the party’s opposition to immediate tax rises, which has caused a backlash from the left. Labour has claimed that Rishi Sunak is prioritising Tory areas for money from the levelling up fund. In a news release the party says: The government’s new flagship levelling up fund will prioritise the chancellor’s own local authority, where houses are currently on sale for £2.5m, for regeneration funding ahead of more deprived areas, according to Labour Research. The chancellor’s own local authority of Richmondshire, as well as the constituencies of four other members of the cabinet, are prioritised to bid for levelling up funding. Newark and Sherwood, Pembrokeshire, Dumfries and Galloway and Great Yarmouth local authorities, which include the constituencies of the chancellor, the communities secretary Robert Jenrick, Welsh secretary Simon Hart, Scottish secretary Allister Jack and Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis respectively, were all included in the first tier of eligibility for priority funding, under plans announced by the chancellor at the budget. Their areas were selected for funding ahead of authorities such as Barnsley, Flintshire, Coventry, Plymouth, Salford and the Wirral, all of which were included in the second tier for priority funding. At his press conference Sunak was asked about this by the FT’s George Parker, who suggested the chancellor was engaged in “naked pork barrel politics”. Sunak said any area could bid for money from the levelling up fund. He said the areas getting priority funding were getting “capacity funding” to help them put together a bid. He said this list was based on an index of economic need that had been published. A lack of support for care homes, the NHS and people on benefits led to claims that Rishi Sunak’s budget had left the country’s most vulnerable people “betrayed”. The chancellor promised a “real commitment to green growth” in his budget, though environmentalists expressed concern about a lack of detail over how that might be achieved. The chancellor’s budget was cautiously welcomed by the culture sector but industry figures said it lacks detail in key areas and does not do enough to support those who have missed out on government support, such as freelancers. Thalidomide campaigners have reacted with relief and joy after the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, pledged a “lifetime commitment” of funding to support survivors of the scandal.