The boss of electricals retailer AO World has called on the Chancellor to focus on cutting welfare spending rather than hitting businesses with more taxes, branding reported plans to scrap the two-child benefit cap as "madness".

Chief executive John Roberts said the Labour party needed to "man up" and "make some difficult decisions" in Wednesday's Budget.

He told the PA news agency that plans to boost welfare spending while the nation's public finances need repairing, including speculation over moves to ditch the two-child benefit cap, were "madness".

He urged Rachel Reeves to look at measures within the Government's own spending to plug the public finances black hole and not hit businesses with more taxes.

He said: "Business is a force for good in the economy.

"It gets demonised in

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