The Resolution Foundation has called on the Chancellor, John Healey, to raise about £8bn in taxes at the Budget, including on pensioners, to rebuild the government's buffer against its fiscal rules.
The think tank said on 13 October that conflict in the Middle East has halved the headroom against the binding fiscal rule to £12bn. PA reports the foundation as saying headroom has fallen from £24bn to as little as £12bn because of the war.
It also urged Healey to target support at low-income families, and warned that delaying tough decisions is "not the right approach".
The headroom figures are the Resolution Foundation's own estimates and have not been independently checked. Healey delivers the Budget to the Commons on Wednesday 28 October.