Rachel Reeves to give speech preparing ground for budget tax rises – UK politics live | Politics
Rachel Reeves to give speech laying the groundwork for budget tax increases
Good morning. David Cameron is credited with popularizing the term “pitch roll” at Westminster to describe the process by which politicians prepare the public for difficult announcements by pre-shaping the debate. It is a metaphor that evokes a light game of cricket and pleasant summer afternoons.
Today Rachel Reeves engages in a classic pitch roll piece. But his mission is even more frightening. It won’t flatten the odd bulge; it needs to clear some huge PR hurdles, which is more the task of a fleet of JCB diggers.
Because when he presents the budget in three weeks’ time tomorrow, he will have to fill a fiscal deficit reportedly as high as £30bn. This means tax increases that will never be an easy sell. But it also means going back on a promise he made to the CBI last year, when he said he would not need to raise taxes on the scale he did in autumn 2024. There also seems to be a very real chance that he will decide to raise income tax, which would be a direct breach of the promise Labor made in its election manifesto.
Reeves will give an important speech at 8:10 a.m. Like Jessica Elgot And Pippa Crerar report in preview stories, reeves “With a major speech in which he will be ‘candid’ about the tough elections ahead, he will lay the foundations for a tax rise budget that will fail to deliver on Labour’s election promise on income tax.”
Here is the agenda of the day.
8.10: Chancellor Rachel Reeves gives a speech in Downing Street.
Morning: Keir Starmer chair cabinet.
9.30: The ONS publishes crime data on sexual offenses from the Crime Survey for England and Wales 2024/25.
10am: Kemi Badenoch gives a speech in Westminster.
10.30: The House of Commons defense committee hears evidence from journalists about the Afghan data breach.
11.30: Reeves answers questions in the House of Commons.
Afternoon: A lobby briefing is being held in Downing Street.
after 12.30: MPs debate two Conservative opposition day motions; One calls for the removal of business rates for high street retail, hospitality and leisure premises, while the other calls for people with “low levels of mental health problems” to stop receiving health and disability benefits and for the Motability scheme to be reformed.
14.30: Prof Brian Bell, chairman of the immigration advisory committee, gives evidence to the Commons home affairs committee.
If you would like to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm BST currently) or message me on social media. I can’t read all messages BTL, but if you type “Andrew” in a message addressed to me, I’m more likely to see it because I’m looking for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something urgently, it’s best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has stopped posting from their official account on
I find it very helpful for readers to point out errors, even minor typos. No mistake is too small to be corrected. I also find your questions very interesting. I can’t promise to respond to them all, but I will try to respond as much as I can, either on BTL or sometimes on the blog.
important events
Starmer tells MPs Reeves will present ‘Labor values-based workforce budget’
Keir Starmer He may have given a clearer indication of what will come from the budget last night when he made a private speech to Labor MPs at a meeting of the PLP (parliamentary Labor Party). What’s this Jessica Elgot And Pippa Crerar they report in their splash story.
star player He told MPs on Monday night it would be “a Labor budget built on Labor values”, promising it would protect the NHS, reduce debt and ease the cost of living.
The Prime Minister gave MPs a hint at how he would frame the government’s potential manifesto breach, saying it was “becoming clearer that the long-term impact of the Conservative Party’s austerity, the failed Brexit deal and the pandemic on Britain’s productivity is even worse than we feared.”
Starmer told a crowd of grim-faced MPs, many of whom were skeptical about the potential manifesto breach, that “tough but fair decisions” would be made; He said the choice for the Conservatives and Reform would be to “send us back to austerity”.
MPs at the meeting repeatedly questioned Starmer about whether the budget would remove the two-child benefit cap; this was described as a “coordinated” pressure on the prime minister.
MPs at the meeting repeatedly questioned Starmer about whether the budget would remove the two-child benefit cap; this was described as a “coordinated” pressure on the prime minister.
Although no one publicly expressed concern about the breach of the manifesto, at least one MP spoke of the need for the public to “know what we stand for”. But the absence of any direct conflict over the manifesto may reassure Starmer and Reeves that they do not face a major backlash from within the parliamentary Labor Party.
Last night the Treasury published an excerpt from his speech: Rachel Reeves It will be given at 8.10 in the morning. For the record, this is what he is expected to say.
I will present my second budget as chancellor later this month.
With this budget, I will make the choices necessary to provide strong foundations for our economy this year and for years to come.
This government will have a budget based on the values of justice and opportunity and focused squarely on the priorities of the British people:
Protecting our NHS, reducing our national debt and improving the cost of living.
You have all heard a lot of speculation about the choices I will make.
I understand this; These are important choices that will shape our economy for years to come.
But it’s important for people to understand the circumstances we face, the principles that guide my choices, and why I believe they will be the right choices for the country.
On the surface, these words reveal little; These are things almost any chancellor would say before almost any budget.
But these are interpreted as confirmation that taxes will rise, and the Treasury is making no attempt to persuade people that this reading is wrong.
Rachel Reeves to give speech laying the groundwork for budget tax increases
Good morning. David Cameron is credited with popularizing the term “pitch roll” at Westminster to describe the process by which politicians prepare the public for difficult announcements by pre-shaping the debate. It is a metaphor that evokes a light game of cricket and pleasant summer afternoons.
Today Rachel Reeves engages in a classic pitch roll piece. But his mission is even more frightening. It won’t flatten the odd bulge; it needs to clear some huge PR hurdles, which is more the task of a fleet of JCB diggers.
Because when he presents the budget in three weeks’ time tomorrow, he will have to fill a fiscal deficit reportedly as high as £30bn. This means tax increases that will never be an easy sell. But it also means going back on a promise he made to the CBI last year, when he said he would not need to raise taxes on the scale he did in autumn 2024. There also seems to be a very real chance that he will decide to raise income tax, which would be a direct breach of the promise Labor made in its election manifesto.
Reeves will give an important speech at 8:10 a.m. Like Jessica Elgot And Pippa Crerar report in preview stories, reeves “With a major speech in which he will be ‘candid’ about the tough elections ahead, he will lay the foundations for a tax rise budget that will fail to deliver on Labour’s election promise on income tax.”
Here is the agenda of the day.
8.10: Chancellor Rachel Reeves gives a speech in Downing Street.
Morning: Keir Starmer chair cabinet.
9.30: The ONS publishes crime data on sexual offenses from the Crime Survey for England and Wales 2024/25.
10am: Kemi Badenoch gives a speech in Westminster.
10.30: The House of Commons defense committee hears evidence from journalists about the Afghan data breach.
11.30: Reeves answers questions in the House of Commons.
Afternoon: A lobby briefing is being held in Downing Street.
after 12.30: MPs debate two Conservative opposition day motions; One calls for the removal of business rates for high street retail, hospitality and leisure premises, while the other calls for people with “low levels of mental health problems” to stop receiving health and disability benefits and for the Motability scheme to be reformed.
14.30: Prof Brian Bell, chairman of the immigration advisory committee, gives evidence to the Commons home affairs committee.
If you would like to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm BST currently) or message me on social media. I can’t read all messages BTL, but if you type “Andrew” in a message addressed to me, I’m more likely to see it because I’m looking for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something urgently, it’s best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has stopped posting from their official account on
I find it very helpful for readers to point out errors, even minor typos. No mistake is too small to be corrected. I also find your questions very interesting. I can’t promise to respond to them all, but I will try to respond as much as I can, either on BTL or sometimes on the blog.
