Rachel Reeves admitted tough ‘choices’ are coming in the Budget today amid mounting alarm at the threat of tax hikes.
The Chancellor insisted she was going to keep taxes ‘as low as possible’ as Brits brace for more pain in her fiscal package on November 26.
But in her speech to Labour conference she warned the position has been made even harder by ‘global headwinds’. ‘I will make my choices at that Budget. They will be choices to take this country forward… I will take no risks with the trust placed in us by the British people,’ she said.
Ms Reeves took a veiled swipe at Andy Burnham over his suggestion of taking on the bond markets, suggesting there is ‘nothing progressive’ about racking up more debt.
And she said the ‘single greatest threat’ to the UK was Nigel Farage and Reform. ‘They are not on the side of working people,’ she added.
In a plead for activists to stick with her, Ms Reeves said: ‘A better Britain is in reach.’
At one point the speech was interrupted by shouts from the audience about ‘genocide’ and the ‘mass starvation of Palestinians’.
But after saying she understood concerns, Ms Reeves shot back that Labour was a ‘party in government not a party in protest’.
The Cabinet minister used her address to talk up her ‘patriotism’, saying she was standing behind the UK steel industry. She also attacked Thatcherism for leaving behind poorer children, saying she wanted a country founded on ‘contribution’.
As Keir Starmer’s team desperately tries to rally the party faithful:
- Ms Reeves confirmed the UK and EU are working on a ‘youth mobility’ deal that critics say could be free movement by the back door;
- The Chancellor said she would guarantee a library in every school across the country;
- Elections guru John Curtice has warned there seems to be no way back for Sir Keir amid record low poll ratings.
Rachel Reeves used her address to talk up her ‘patriotism’, saying she was standing behind the UK steel industry
The Chancellor was interrupted by shouts from the audience in Liverpool about ‘genocide’ and the ‘mass starvation of Palestinians’
The Labour manifesto promised no rises to income tax, NICs or VAT
The Chancellor told Labour’s annual conference there is ‘nothing progressive, nothing Labour, about Government using one in every £10 of public money it spends on financing debt interest’.
She said: ‘In the months ahead, we will face further tests, with the choices to come made all the harder by harsh global headwinds and the long-term damage done to our economy, which is becoming ever clearer.
‘Our first year in power was about fixing the foundations. Our second must be about building a renewed economy for a renewed Britain: A renewed economy that works for working people and rewards their contribution.
‘A renewed economy, where we reject austerity and support public services.
‘A renewed economy that supports investment, that gets inflation and borrowing down and where we build for growth in every part of Britain.’
Speculation has been mounting that Ms Reeves could have to break Labour‘s election manifesto, which pledged no increases to income tax, employee national insurance or VAT.
Earlier, Ms Reeves said she had made a ‘solemn promise’ to stabilise the country’s finances as she dodged on how she plans to fill an estimated £30billion gap in the government’s books.
Touring broadcast studios at the Labour party conference in Liverpool this morning ahead of her keynote speech, Ms Reeves repeatedly used the formulation that she ‘stands by those commitments’ without giving specific guarantees.
Some believe the government could expand VAT to areas such as taxi fares, rather than increasing the main rate.
‘There are global headwinds at the moment, we can see that the world has changed hugely since the last election,’ she told Sky News.
‘But those manifesto commitments we made in the manifesto 15 months ago, those manifesto commitments stand.’
Pressed on whether a VAT rise would count as a tax rise on working people, Ms Reeves said: ‘That (VAT) was part of our manifesto pledges. Because if we are talking about living standards the prices in the shops are obviously crucial to people’s living standards.’
The Chancellor insisted she had not yet received forecasts from the Treasury’s OBR watchdog.
Asked if taxes would have to bear the burden of filling any black hole in the finances, Ms Reeves said she would bring forward ‘a combination of changes, if needed, to tax and spending’.
Labour has already been accused of breaking its manifesto once by increasing national insurance for employers – although ministers argue they only said they would protect workers.
The extra costs for businesses have been blamed for slowing down the economy and staff recruitment.
Keir Starmer sparked concern about VAT yesterday after seeming to choose his words carefully during a BBC interview.
He insisted the manifesto ‘stands’ rather than giving any specific assurances.
Ms Reeves also signalled she wants the OBR to do one set of forecasts a year instead of two – something the watchdog has suggested it will resist.
She told Times Radio: ‘The International Monetary Fund (IMF) have said that we should move to just one major fiscal event a year, and I agree with their recommendations, and to be able to do that, we do need to change the way that the OBR do their forecasting.
‘Two full forecasts a year make it harder to have that one fiscal event. There are different ways you could do it, you could do a shorter term forecast, you could do a forecast that just looks at the changes in the economy over that period of time.’
She added: ‘We’ve already moved to having just one budget a year, but we’re trying through these changes to facilitate that.’
Keir Starmer (pictured on a visit with Ms Reeves in Liverpool) sparked concern about VAT yesterday after seeming to choose his words carefully during a BBC interview
The stalling economy, productivity downgrades and rising interest rates have left the Chancellor with a black hole estimated at £30billion to fill.
But businesses have been voicing alarm at the prospect of more eye-watering tax hikes, with warnings they could plunge the country into a ‘doom loop’.
Unite is expected to try to force a vote on a ‘wealth tax’ at the conference – threatening to cut ties with the party unless the Budget shows a ‘direction change’.
