Rachel Reeves refuses to rule out tax rises in statement ahead of Autumn Budget

The Chancellor gave an unusual pre-Budget speech today

There is widespread speculation that Labour is due to break its manifesto commitments on tax rises, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer warning MPs last night of the need for "tough but fair" decisions.

Starmer told Labour MPs that the budget "takes place against a difficult economic backdrop".

"It's becoming clearer the long-term impact of Tory austerity, their botched Brexit deal and the pandemic on Britain's productivity is worse than even we feared," he said.

"Faced with that, we will make the tough but fair decisions to renew our country and build it for the long term."

In Reeves' speech this morning, she said that she had to make "necessary choices" and that she has to "face the world as it is".

When asked about whether she will break Labour's commitments to not increasing taxes on working people, Reeves refused to answer, saying today was about"setting the context
for the budget rather than individual policies.

"The easy thing to do would be to cut investment," she told reporters. However, she believes those kind of choices "are the reason we have such low productivity today".

Labour's election manifesto read: "We will ensure taxes on working people are kept as low as possible. Labour will not increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase national insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of income tax, or VAT".

The speculation on tax hikes come as the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) downgraded its productivity growth predictions for the UK, leaving Reeves with a hole of £20bn to fill.