London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Chancellor Rachel Reeves has stated that “main taxes on working people” will not increase in the Budget.
The reassurance came a week before Reeves delivered her first Budget, and the first delivered by a woman. Labour pledged in its manifesto that there would not be tax climbs on VAT, income tax and National Insurance rates, which Sir Keir Starmer has aimed to caveat as a promise applying to “working people”.
What assurances did Rachel Reeves give on taxes?
Talking to BBC radio, Ms Reeves stated: “We said that because working people had already paid the load under the last government, we wouldn’t raise the taxes, the main taxes that working people spend, so income tax – all rates – national insurance and VAT. So those taxes that working people pay, we’re not raising those taxes in the Budget.”
How does Reeves plan to address the £22 billion deficit?
She also insisted that Cabinet associates find billions of pounds of Whitehall savings as she strives to find a package of £40 billion, mostly from tax rises. This would be utilised to address an alleged £22 billion black spot in the public finances which she argues was left by the Tories, which they refuse, and also for investing billions in the new Government’s preferences such as the NHS.
How did Reeves describe the concerns of her colleagues?
Moreover, Ms Reeves expressed she is “sympathetic towards the mess” her Cabinet colleagues have encountered after it was conveyed that some had gone directly to PM Sir Keir over their worries about possible cuts to their departments that could come at next week’s Budget.
Ms Reeves stated it is “perfectly reasonable” that ministers “outline their case” to Number 10 and Number 11 ahead of the fiscal circumstance, and alerted problems cannot “just be magicked away”. She expressed she had reached spending settlements with all administration departments ahead of the Budget. She contended: “I’m very compassionate towards the mess that my colleagues have inherited. I understand those issues, but also my colleagues comprehend the challenges that we face as a government in making sure that the sums add up.