- Chancellor Rachel Reeves defends her economic policy in an exclusive article for The Independent, amid cabinet disputes over her spending review, particularly regarding funding for local government, social housing, border control, and policing.
- Reeves highlights her efforts to rebalance the economy, drawing from her own experiences growing up in Lewisham ‘under Margaret Thatcher and John Major’s governments’ and emphasising investments in free school meals and above-inflation increases to universal credit.
- Reeves addresses criticisms of being out of touch by pointing to left-wing policies she has implemented, such as ending the tax loophole for private schools and rolling out free breakfast clubs.
- Senior Labour figures have attacked Reeves for sticking to her pledges not to raise income tax, VAT, or national insurance, leading to expected cuts in the upcoming spending review.
- A LabourList/Survation poll reveals internal party tensions, with Reeves receiving a negative rating among party members, while Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is reportedly pushing for wealth taxes as an alternative to Reeves’s cuts.
IN FULL
Reeves hits back at spending review critics claiming ‘my choices are Labour choices’
