Chancellor Rachel Reeves has signalled her first budget as chancellor could be a painful mix of spending cuts, tax rises and increased borrowing.
Speaking to Sky News after official figures showed the economy flatlined in July with GDP growth of 0.0%, she refused to rule out increasing business and wealth taxes, or further cuts to already strained departmental budgets, as she seeks to address what she says is a dire economic inheritance from the last government.
“I’ve been really honest that there are difficult decisions to come in the budget, on spending, on taxation and welfare, after the mess that the previous government created with the public finances and the state that they are in, that was inevitable,” she said.
“I was clear during the election campaign that, if I became chancellor of the exchequer, tough choices lie ahead.”
Ms Reeves has ruled out increasing personal income taxes, National Insurance and VAT as well as corporation tax, leaving a limited field of other taxes on private wealth and business.
She said her choices in the budget would be directed at getting a grip on the public finances.
“It is important to bring stability back to our economy, but we will do that in a way that helps promote growth, so we can grow our economy and make our country better off,” she said.
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The need to stimulate growth was emphasised by the figures from the Office for National Statistics that showed the economy stalled in June and July, consecutive months of zero expansion, after above-expectation growth in the first half of the year.
The new administration has pinned its entire programme for government on stimulating growth to allow public spending to increase and stay within strict fiscal rules limiting borrowing.
At the same time, they are imposing new obligations on businesses including a slate of workers’ rights reforms that industries fear will increase costs.
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Ms Reeves cited an £8bn investment by Amazon Web Services in new data centres as evidence that businesses back her vision.
“Microsoft are investing £8bn here in Britain to create new jobs in technical skills, in AI and digital infrastructure,” she said.
“They’re making those investments, and other businesses too, because this government is bringing stability back to our economy and working in partnership with business to unlock the huge potential. And if we can do that, we can make our country better off.”
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The chancellor also defended her decision to remove winter fuel payments from 10 million pensioners, after the government weathered a 50-strong rebellion by its own MPs in a parliamentary vote last night.
She said it was a response to a £22bn “black hole” in public finances for this year that had to be addressed, and that the loss of up to £300 would be compensated by rising pensions.
“These were not decisions that I wanted to make, but they were the right decisions in the circumstances that we faced,” she said.
“All pensioners this winter have benefited from the increase in the new state pension, which means pensions are worth £900 more than they were a year ago. The state pension is likely to go up by a further £460 next year. That’s not means-tested.
“So we are protecting the most vulnerable pensioners, whilst also starting to get a grip on our public financing years of mismanagement because we expect.”
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The chancellor also suggested more cuts to public services are likely.
Asked if the prisons and justice system could absorb further cuts despite having to release thousands of prisoners early, she said: “On spending, on taxation and on welfare, but those decisions are necessary to start to get a group of our public finances so that we can turn our economy around.
“I am determined not to allow these problems to continue to fester in the way that the previous government allowed that we’re honest about the challenges that we face.”
