Awkward moment Susanna Reid left Rachel Reeves floundering: GMB host asks Chancellor ‘How can anyone believe anything you say?’ over Budget tax rises

Susanna Reid was left looking stunned after grilling Rachel Reeves this morning about whether Labor had delivered on its manifesto commitments on the Budget.

The Good Morning Britain presenter put pressure on the Chancellor during an awkward encounter when he appeared on the ITV breakfast show a day after announcing a £30bn attack on British workers.

Ms Reeves abandoned plans for a manifesto-busting income tax hike earlier this month, announcing a series of small money-grabbing tax increases in a desperate bid to balance the books.

These include a new pay-per-mile tax on electric vehicles, increased taxes on online betting and so-called ‘mansion tax’ on homes worth more than £2 million.

But he continued to face accusations that Labor had breached its election promise not to raise taxes on ‘working people’ after freezing £13bn of income tax for three years.

During a heated exchange with Ms Reid, the Labor MP repeatedly denied any breach of the manifesto commitment, insisting the document only promised not to change tax ‘rates’.

But the presenter refused to take the faltering Chancellor out of the loop and asked him: ‘How can anyone believe anything you say?’

Ms Reeves responded: “I’m the Chancellor of the world as it is, and not the way I want the world to be,” before reiterating ways the Government could ease costs on taxpayers.

In an interview on Good Morning Britain, the Chancellor chuckled about whether the package breached Labour’s manifesto, claiming the document only promised not to change tax ‘rates’

The Chancellor continued: ‘I’m not claiming that what I did yesterday wasn’t asking working people to contribute more, but it does mean that I’ve been able to keep that to an absolute minimum because of other changes we’ve made around gambling taxes and higher value properties.

Ms Reid then responds: ‘But when you make a promise, when you make a promise in the manifesto, when you make a public promise in the House of Commons, you accept that we cannot believe those promises because they may not be fulfilled.’

Once again the Chancellor repeats, squirming: ‘It’s very clear in the manifesto that it’s income tax, National Insurance and VAT rates.’

But the ruthless Mrs Reid interrupted him and insisted he was lying: ‘That’s not true. The manifesto said, and I quote: “Labour will not increase taxes on working people.” ‘

Ms Reeves then stepped in to defend herself and said: ‘But Susanna says the odds in the next sentence if you keep reading. But I recognize that we are asking people to contribute more by freezing these thresholds for a further three years from 2028.’

While Ms Reeves has tried to justify the move with smaller tax cuts and money to pay off energy bills, people fear they will struggle to make ends meet.

‘Middle-aged single parent. I worked hard and earned a higher tax rate salary. I never benefited from child benefit due to my salary. Trying to pay a pension to secure a good retirement. ‘Now I’m paying for other people’s children, NI benefits are being deducted from my pension – where’s the help?’ one person wrote to X.

Another added: ‘All I heard was stuttering and stumbling, I’m a single dad and yesterday’s budget made it harder for me to spend time with my son because I have to work longer hours to keep the lights on at home, this budget to me feels like there’s a bully standing around my neck taking money.’

Others praised Reid for her faithful interview technique, with one person writing: ‘Thank you @susannareid100 for telling us what the majority of the country is thinking and what you want to say to the chancellor!

The massive raid announced yesterday also includes an eye-watering £12.7bn from extending the freeze on the hated tax threshold for another three years.

By then, about a quarter of the working population will pay a higher or top rate tax than when it is implemented in 2021, which is just 15 percent.

If it had risen in line with inflation, the higher rate threshold would have been £70,370 instead of £50,270 by 2030.

The tax burden is expected to reach a new peak as a percentage of GDP in records dating back more than 300 years.

The Office for Budget Responsibility said economic growth under Labor would be even lower than forecast last year and warned that none of the 88 measures announced by Ms Reeves would have a ‘material impact’ on boosting GDP.

The decision to spend £3 billion a year to lift the two-child limit has been wildly applauded by Labor MPs.

But it will also involve distributing taxpayer grants worth thousands of pounds a year each to Britain’s largest unemployed families.

The OBR warned on Wednesday night that the grant would result in a further 25,000 large families claiming help at an estimated cost of £300 million.

Ms Reeves is seen in the House of Commons as she announces a series of small money-grabbing tax increases in a desperate bid to balance the books

General welfare spending is forecast to be £16 billion higher by 2030-31 than the watchdog thought as recently as March.

Worryingly, annual welfare spending is forecast to rise from £333bn in 2025-26 to £389.4bn in 2029-30.

While the Conservatives condemned this as a ‘budget avenue for social benefits’, Nigel Farage harshly attacked it as an ‘attack on aspirations’.

But the measures were welcomed by Labor MPs, with ministers claiming Ms Reeves had ‘saved herself’.

In an interview this morning, the Chancellor told GB News: ‘I had to raise taxes yesterday, but I kept them to the absolute minimum for ordinary working people and frozen those thresholds for another three years from 2028.’

Ms Reeves added: ‘This Government supports that request.’

The Chancellor told Sky News that Labor ‘made it very clear in the manifesto that we will not be increasing income tax, national insurance or VAT rates’.

He added: ‘But yesterday I realized that by freezing these thresholds from 2028 I’m asking working people to contribute a bit more.