Chancellor Philip Hammond must address the social care "crisis" in his spring Budget or face a mutiny from Conservative MPs, Labour said on Wednesday (8 March).

Shadow City Minister Jonathan Reynolds also told IBTimes UK that Hammond must provide more Brexit certainty with his major economic statement.

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"We think Hammond must move to tackle the crisis in health and social care funding – he'll face a mutiny on his own side if he doesn't even acknowledge how difficult the social care situation is – and address the squeeze on living stands caused by the chronic level of low pay combined with rising inflation," he said.

The warning comes just hours before Hammond addresses the House of Commons in his first Budget speech. The chancellor failed to rule out reports that he is set to put aside £1bn ($1.2bn) to tackle pressure on social care in England and Wales.

"We recognise that there are pressures in the social care system and that those pressures are having an effect on the way the NHS works but it isn't just about money," he told ITV's Peston on Sunday show.

The Chancellor could break a Conservative Party general election manifesto pledge – not to raise VAT, income or national insurance tax – by hiking national insurance contributions from the self-employed to pay for the boost in social care spending.

Hammond is also under pressure to find more money to help small and medium sized firms cope with business rate rises.

Elsewhere, the Chancellor is expected to unveil £500m for skills training for 16 and 19-year-olds in a bid to improve technical knowledge, whilst creating a £5m education fund to celebrating the passing of the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which extended the voting franchise to women.

Philip Hammond