Chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged to continue in her role and exceed economic predictions following her controversial budget announcement that raises taxes while scrapping the two-child benefit cap. Speaking to Times Radio, Reeves firmly rejected attempts to undermine her position, declaring that critics won’t “write my obituary today” and promising to deliver more economic growth measures in the future.
The budget’s centerpiece involves freezing income tax and national insurance thresholds for an additional three years, affecting more than 1.7 million workers who will either pay tax for the first time or move into higher tax brackets. This measure alone is forecast to generate £12.4 billion for the Treasury by 2030-31, making it the primary revenue-raising component of the fiscal plan.
Reeves defended the decision to eliminate the two-child benefit cap as a “good investment” in children’s futures, noting that 60% of affected families have working parents. The move has been welcomed by Labour backbenchers but criticized by conservative media outlets concerned about increased welfare spending. The chancellor emphasized that the policy represents a meaningful step toward reducing child poverty in Britain.
When questioned about potential breaches of Labour’s manifesto commitments, Reeves maintained that the threshold freeze didn’t violate campaign promises, though she declined to rule out additional tax increases next year. She attributed the need for tax rises to global economic pressures and productivity downgrades from the budget watchdog, stating she must “operate in the world as it is.”
The chancellor also highlighted smaller tax increases designed to build fiscal headroom, including higher levies on gambling companies and a new pay-per-mile tax for electric vehicles. Despite criticism that the budget lacks growth-boosting measures, Reeves cited new investment announcements from major financial institutions like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs as evidence of business confidence in the government’s economic direction.