Starmer defends Reeves tax hikes
2m
Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised pressure on the head of the Office for Budget Responsibility, calling a market-sensitive budget leak a "serious error" and a "massive discourtesy" to Parliament.
by Prem Sikka
Labour’s economic plan will take years to deliver, Starmer says.
Made difficult by poor policies.
Could have
Aligned taxation of dividends and capital gains with wages, lift personal allowance.
Nationalised energy/water, end profiteering, cut inflation, reduce business and household costs.
Made difficult by poor policies.
Could have
Aligned taxation of dividends and capital gains with wages, lift personal allowance.
Nationalised energy/water, end profiteering, cut inflation, reduce business and household costs.
Labour’s economic plan will take years to deliver, Keir Starmer says
Exclusive: PM hits back at critics as he insists Rachel Reeves right to impose £26bn worth of tax rises at budget
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Labour’s economic plan will take years to deliver, Starmer says.
Made difficult by poor policies.
Could have
Aligned taxation of dividends and capital gains with wages, lift personal allowance.
Nationalised energy/water, end profiteering, cut inflation, reduce business and household costs.
Made difficult by poor policies.
Could have
Aligned taxation of dividends and capital gains with wages, lift personal allowance.
Nationalised energy/water, end profiteering, cut inflation, reduce business and household costs.
by Glen O’Hara
I've gone back and read the pre-Budget shaping speech, and nowhere does Reeves talk about the 29/30 fiscal balance apart from re: savings - the terms are much more neutral and general. Off-camera briefings may have been different, but I can't see a mislead. (2/2) www.gov.uk/government/s...
Chancellors Scene Setter speech ahead of Budget 2025
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivered her scene setter speech on Tuesday 4 November 2025.
www.gov.uk
December 1, 2025 at 11:30 AM
I've gone back and read the pre-Budget shaping speech, and nowhere does Reeves talk about the 29/30 fiscal balance apart from re: savings - the terms are much more neutral and general. Off-camera briefings may have been different, but I can't see a mislead. (2/2) www.gov.uk/government/s...
by Glen O’Hara
Legitimate area for debate, but I don't agree at all with the interpretation put forward by Chris Mason here. IMHO two time horizons in play, and you have to concentrate to understand. OBR is clear on pp. 9-10 about substantial adverse pressures in next few years. (1/2) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Chris Mason: Why, in my judgement, Reeves was misleading on one specific point
The Chancellor chose not to share some information on tax receipts in an unusual press conference, given before the Budget.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 1, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Legitimate area for debate, but I don't agree at all with the interpretation put forward by Chris Mason here. IMHO two time horizons in play, and you have to concentrate to understand. OBR is clear on pp. 9-10 about substantial adverse pressures in next few years. (1/2) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I've been extremely critical of Labour's comms lately, but this is much better from Starmer. It's critical that he now should relentlessly hammer this same message away for the next two years... it is the only way that voters will start to hear it.
There are those on the left and right who offer only grievance: Labour is getting on with the job of economic renewal | Keir Starmer
Judge last week’s budget in the light of our bold plans to sweep away red tape, tackle inactivity among young people and pursue a closer trading relationship with the EU, says prime minister Keir Star...
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 12:28 AM
I've been extremely critical of Labour's comms lately, but this is much better from Starmer. It's critical that he now should relentlessly hammer this same message away for the next two years... it is the only way that voters will start to hear it.
Reposted by Ben H. Ansell
Rachel Reeves's "headroom" is based on:
-£16bn in 'efficiency savings'
-£6bn in savings in order to fund taking SEND off local government backs
-tax rises that largely come in at the end of the forecast
-immigration being at c340k net in 2029!
-£16bn in 'efficiency savings'
-£6bn in savings in order to fund taking SEND off local government backs
-tax rises that largely come in at the end of the forecast
-immigration being at c340k net in 2029!
Suggestion Rachel Reeves exaggerated fiscal pressures is absurd
Chancellor was instead far too optimistic about public finances and government’s ability to secure cuts
www.ft.com
December 1, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Rachel Reeves's "headroom" is based on:
-£16bn in 'efficiency savings'
-£6bn in savings in order to fund taking SEND off local government backs
-tax rises that largely come in at the end of the forecast
-immigration being at c340k net in 2029!
-£16bn in 'efficiency savings'
-£6bn in savings in order to fund taking SEND off local government backs
-tax rises that largely come in at the end of the forecast
-immigration being at c340k net in 2029!
by Glen O’Hara
Fundamentally not a serious policymaking community or media. Sure, briefing was a problem. But we have problems both chronic and acute: we can and should be debating those. We won't. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cl...
Minister insists Rachel Reeves did not mislead public in Budget build-up
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been accused of over-stating the UK's financial problems in the build-up to the Budget - Darren Jones insists she did not lie.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 1, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Fundamentally not a serious policymaking community or media. Sure, briefing was a problem. But we have problems both chronic and acute: we can and should be debating those. We won't. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cl...
Starmer pre-election talked of the need for a decade-long project of ‘national renewal’ & here he refers to ‘renewal’ so repeatedly like he’d lost his thesaurus. But what is renewal for? He needs to spell it out in visceral, tangible terms. His comms still opaque. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
There are those on the left and right who offer only grievance: Labour is getting on with the job of economic renewal | Keir Starmer
Judge last week’s budget in the light of our bold plans to sweep away red tape, tackle inactivity among young people and pursue a closer trading relationship with the EU, says prime minister Keir Star...
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Starmer pre-election talked of the need for a decade-long project of ‘national renewal’ & here he refers to ‘renewal’ so repeatedly like he’d lost his thesaurus. But what is renewal for? He needs to spell it out in visceral, tangible terms. His comms still opaque. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
It’s all about ‘trust’ in our politicians and how journalists, our disinterested tribunes, can undermine it.
It’s an indictment of our media that more time is being spent on whether Reeves lied about the need to raise taxes than on the actual substance of the policies announced on Wednesday.
November 30, 2025 at 3:35 PM
It’s all about ‘trust’ in our politicians and how journalists, our disinterested tribunes, can undermine it.
Ridiculous when you consider all of the lies told by yhe Tories over 14 years - without this level of faux outrage from the media 🤬
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Rachel Reeves denies lying to public in run-up to budget
Chancellor accused of misleading public about reasons for tax rises, with opposition politicians calling for her resignation
www.theguardian.com
November 30, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Ridiculous when you consider all of the lies told by yhe Tories over 14 years - without this level of faux outrage from the media 🤬
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
by Gerry Hassan
V good analysis of the political cowardice of Starmer's Labour by @premnsikka.bsky.social. One of its many failures is the fiscal assault on young people freezing the repayment threshold for student loans at £29,385 leaving graduates with a 37% marginal tax rate. leftfootforward.org/2025/11/the-...
The government’s budget is simply managing decline
The budget does little to improve living standards or facilitate sustained economic growth
leftfootforward.org
November 30, 2025 at 5:52 PM
V good analysis of the political cowardice of Starmer's Labour by @premnsikka.bsky.social. One of its many failures is the fiscal assault on young people freezing the repayment threshold for student loans at £29,385 leaving graduates with a 37% marginal tax rate. leftfootforward.org/2025/11/the-...
by John Appleby
@georgewparker.bsky.social clearly explains Reeves’ communication problem over the budget on the Westminster Hour atm; she used ‘black hole’ as the reason for tax rises when it was a political decision to boost welfare and headroom.
November 30, 2025 at 10:27 PM
@georgewparker.bsky.social clearly explains Reeves’ communication problem over the budget on the Westminster Hour atm; she used ‘black hole’ as the reason for tax rises when it was a political decision to boost welfare and headroom.