Rachel Reeves gears up to break core manifesto pledge in major pre-Budget speech – WATCH LIVE
Rachel Reeves has made a major pre-budget announcement as she took aim at the Tories.
In a speech from Downing Street, the Chancellor said she will “make the choices necessary to deliver strong foundations for our economy” for “years to come.”
Downing Street has repeatedly refused to re-commit to Labour’s manifesto pledges, fuelling speculation that its promise to avoid hiking income tax looks set to be broken today.
In her speech, the Chancellor said: “You will all have heard a lot of speculation about the choices I will make. I understand that, these are important choices that will shape our economy for years to come.
“But it is important that people understand the circumstances we are facing, the principles guiding my choices, and why I believe they will be the right choices for the country.”
She said: “I fixed the foundations, dealing with the aftermath of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget and the £22billion black hole in the public finances left by the previous government.
“I put our public finances back on a firm footing, provided an urgent cash injection into our faltering public services and began rebuilding our economy.”
It follows comments from Sir Keir Starmer, who took a swipe at the Conservatives and Reform UK, accusing them of planning to “return us to austerity.”
The Prime Minister said last month: “It is becoming clearer that the long-term impact of Tory austerity, their botched Brexit deal and the pandemic on Britain’s productivity is worse than even we feared.
“Faced with that, we will make the tough but fair decisions to renew our country and build it for the long term. A Labour government making Labour choices. The Tories and Reform would return us to austerity.”
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Rachel Reeves said she would act in ‘political expediency’ over ‘national interest’
Rachel Reeves said she would do “the right things” as she pledged to act in “political expediency” over “national interest.”
Asked by The Telegraph if she was prepared to lose the next election as a result of breaking manifesto promises by raising tax, she said: “The problem of the last 14 years is that political expediency always came above the national interest, and that is why we are in the mess that we are in today.”
She added: “If you’re asking me, what comes first, national interest or political expediency, national interest every single time. And that’s the same for Keir Starmer too.”
Rachel Reeves refuses to confirm if she will break Labour’s manifesto commitments at her budget
Rachel Reeves refused to commit to the party’s manifesto
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REUTERS
Rachel Reeves has declined to say if Labour will break a manifesto commitment to not raise income tax, VAT or national insurance on “working people.”
She said: “As Chancellor I have to face the world as it is, not the world as I want it to be. And when challenges come our way, the only question is how to respond to them, not whether to respond or not.
“As I respond at the budget on the 26th of November, my focus will be on getting NHS waiting lists down, getting the cost of living down and also getting the national debt down.”
Rachel Reeves said she wanted to ‘strike a careful balance’ at last year’s Budget
Rachel Reeves has said she wanted to “strike a careful balance” at last year’s Budget as she reiterated her comittment to fiscal rules.
She said: “That was the right decision to break the cycle of low productivity and low growth…But that additional investment can only be delivered because markets know my commitment to the fiscal rules is ironclad.”
The Chancellor also played down the suggestion she should “sidestep those rules” and borrow more money “without consequence” by reclassifying areas like defence and education.
“But no accounting trick can change the basic fact that government debt is sold on financial markets.”
Rachel Reeves says ‘global challenges’ has hit Britain’s economy
Chancellor Rachel Reeves
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REUTERS
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said despite the UK’s “considerable economic strengths” it had been hit by a series of global challenges and persistent problems with productivity.
In a speech setting out the challenges she will face in her Budget later this month, she said “the world has thrown even more challenges our way” in the last 12 months.
“The continual threat of tariffs has dragged on global confidence, deterring business investment and dampening growth,” she told reporters in Downing Street.
“Inflation has been too slow to come down, as supply chains continue to be volatile, meaning the costs of everyday essentials remain too high.
“The cost of government borrowing has increased around the world, a shift that Britain, with our high levels of debt left by the previous government, has been particularly exposed to.”
Rachel Reeves says Reform UK ‘cannot find a single penny’ in their councils
Rachel Reeves has suggested Reform UK-led councils “can’t find a single penny” as she accused Nigel Farage’s party of pushing up council tax.
Rachel Reeves suggests Labour will press ahead with welfare reforms despite rebellion
Rachel Reeves speaking in Downing Street
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GETTY
Rachel Reeves has hinted Labour will push ahead with reforms to welfare, despite a mass backbench rebellion.
The Chancellor said: “The Prime Minister, the Secretary of Work and Pensions and this whole Government, are committed to reforming our welfare state.
“So that is not a system that counts the costs of failure, but one that invests in success and protects those who need it most.”
“There is nothing progressive about refusing to reform a system that is leaving one in eight young people out of education or employment.
“So we have begun the job of creating a system that protects people who cannot work and empowers those who can.”
Rachel Reeves swipes at ‘disastrous’ Liz Truss
Rachel Reeves took a swipe at former Tory PM Liz Truss as she laid out a pledge to put public finances “back on a firm footing.”
She said: “At the Budget last year, I fixed the foundations, dealing with the aftermath of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget and the £22billion black hole in the public finances left by the previous government.
“I put our public finances back on a firm footing, provided an urgent cash injection into our faltering public services and began rebuilding our economy.”
Rachel Reeves says Labour will make ‘important choices’ to shape Britain ‘for years to come’
The Chancellor said: “My Budget, led by this government style of fairness and opportunity and focused entirely on the priorities of the British people.
“Protecting our NHS, reducing our national debt, and improving the cost of living. There has been a lot speculation about the choices that I will make, I understand that.
“These are important choices that will shape the future of our country for years to come. I want people to understand the circumstances we are facing, the principles guiding my choices, and why I believe they will be the right choices.”
Rachel Reeves slams ‘years of economic mismanagement’ as she lays out pre-Budget announcement
The Chancellor has arrived at the news conference room in Downing Street, launching an attack on “years of economic mismanagement.”
Rachel Reeves plots tax hikes as Britons ‘fear’ Budget 2025 – full list of FIVE HMRC raids coming your way
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is widely expected to break Labour’s manifesto promise to not raise income tax in the upcoming Autumn Budget, with a speech set to be delivered later this morning about the issue.
Anxiety about potential income tax increases has emerged as the primary concern ahead of the Budget, with 16 per cent of the public identifying it as their biggest worry, according to a Hargreaves Lansdown.
GB News City & Business Correspondent Patrick O’Donnell has done an in-depth dive into the full list of potential raids from HMRC coming your way,
Kelvin MacKenzie says Greens will beat Labour at next General Election
Kelvin MacKenzie has predicted Labour will fall behind to Zack Polanski’s Green Party in a scathing review of Sir Keir Starmer’s party ahead of the Chancellor’s speech later today.
Writing for GB News members, the former Editor of The Sun said: “Mystic Mac forecasts that Labour and the Tories will be destroyed in a General Election. I expect Labour to fall back to around 12 per cent, giving them a handful of seats.
“The Greens would do better at 20 per cent, but the way our constituencies work, I doubt they would get 40 seats. That way, the Reform-Tory alliance (and probably Farage on his own) could do whatever he liked.
“I am hopeful that he would take the axe to our benefits bill upon winning the general election, although I am concerned that he is indicating he might change the two-cap policy.”
WATCH: Christopher Hope previews Rachel Reeves’ upcoming press conference
Reform-led councils set to hike taxes despite pledging cuts
Councils run by Reform UK are looking to raise taxes, despite pledges to bring down bills.
Eight of the 13 local authorities controlled by Nigel Farage’s party since May have signalled they will raise council tax, reports The Times.
Councils in Durham, Kent, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire are all likely to put up rates.
Analysis shows that on average this would mean an additional £59 a year on bills per household, totalling £127million.
Mr Farage said substantial tax cuts were “not realistic at this current moment in time” as he pledged Reform UK would lead the “most pro-business” government in modern history.
Pensioners warned of ‘inevitable’ tax hike as Rachel Reeves makes ‘hard and serious’ choice
Speculation is mounting that Chancellor Rachel Reeves may abandon Labour’s election pledge not to raise income tax when she delivers her Budget on November 26.
Ms Reeves is preparing to outline what she will call a Budget of “fairness and opportunity” in a speech from Downing Street on Tuesday.
She is expected to promise to “make the choices necessary to deliver strong foundations for our economy” while focusing on three priorities: reducing national debt, easing cost-of-living pressures and protecting the NHS.
Kemi Badenoch to lay down gauntlet to Labour – ‘Britain has stopped working’
Kemi Badenoch will lay down the gauntlet later today
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PA
Kemi Badenoch is expected to heighten her attacks over the U-turn in a speech on Tuesday, claiming “Britain has stopped working” and accusing Labour of having “given up” on lowering the benefits bill.
The Tory leader will also call on the Chancellor personally to “demand the Government withdraws the Employment Rights Bill altogether, before it becomes Labour’s Unemployment Act”.
Mrs Badenoch is expected to say later today: “Britain has stopped working, because it has stopped making sense to work. Far from solving this, Labour seem intent on making it worse.”
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