Chancellor Rachel Reeves has launched a robust defence of her controversial Budget, hitting back at accusations of broken manifesto promises and delivering a stinging rebuke to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Tax Freeze Sparks Fierce Backlash
The Chancellor faced a gruelling round of television interviews following her Autumn Budget announcement, which included the decision to freeze income tax thresholds until 2031. This policy means that as wages increase, more people will be pulled into higher tax brackets, effectively resulting in tax rises for an estimated 1.5 million people.
During tense exchanges on Good Morning Britain, presenter Susanna Reid challenged Ms Reeves directly on her previous criticism of threshold freezes and Labour's election pledge not to increase taxes for working people. "How can anyone believe anything you say?" Reid asked pointedly.
Ms Reeves responded by emphasising the challenging economic circumstances, stating: "I'm Chancellor in the world as it is, not in the world that I might like it to be. And I do have to respond to new forecasts and events unfolding around the world."
Reeves Takes Aim at Farage and Reform
The Chancellor didn't hold back when addressing comments from Nigel Farage, who had described her Budget as an "assault on aspiration." Ms Reeves hit back firmly, telling GB News: "This Government is backing aspiration."
She went further by referencing the recent jailing of former Reform Welsh leader Nathan Gill for taking Russian bribes, suggesting Mr Farage should focus on "what he's going to do about ensuring that we don't have more traitors in his party" rather than criticising her Budget decisions.
Manifesto Pledge Under Scrutiny
Economists and interviewers alike questioned how the threshold freeze squared with Labour's manifesto commitment. Ben Zaranko of the Institute for Fiscal Studies told BBC Breakfast: "It's hard to see how that squares with a manifesto promise and it is a tax on working people."
When Sky News host Sophy Ridge read the actual manifesto pledge to her, Ms Reeves argued that the document had specifically listed tax rates that wouldn't increase - including income tax rates - rather than thresholds.
She acknowledged: "I do recognize that yesterday I have asked working people to contribute a bit more by freezing those thresholds for a further three years from 2028. I do recognize that that will mean that working people pay a bit more, but I've kept that contribution to an absolute minimum."
The Chancellor highlighted other measures in her Budget designed to offset the impact, including £150 reductions on energy bills and freezes to prescription charges and rail fares.
Despite the controversy, Ms Reeves declared herself "incredibly proud" of her Budget, which includes £26 billion of tax increases overall. She stated that her ultimate measure of success would be whether "ordinary kids from working class backgrounds" are living more fulfilling lives, claiming her Budget had achieved this aim.
