Get set for higher taxes as Hammond warns on cost of ageing population

Taxes will keep rising for years to come to cover the cost of caring for Britain's ageing population, Philip Hammond has warned. Despite success in the long battle to defeat the budget deficit, the Chancellor said the tax burden - already its highest in more than 30 years - will rise further. Higher earners in particular should brace for a bigger bill to HM Revenue and Customs as Mr Hammond said “grumbling” from the rich should be taken as a sign of success. “The trick in any tax system is to get the balance right. If taxpayers who are paying large amount of tax weren’t grumbling we wouldn’t have got it right,” he told MPs on the Treasury Committee on Wednesday.