Rachel Reeves urges Labour MPs to unite behind her 'make-or-break' Budget

"Chancellor Rachel Reeves has urged Labour MPs to rally behind her "fair and progressive" Budget, warning that while not every measure would be universally popular, the package must be backed in full to deliver the government's economic agenda. Addressing a tense meeting of the parliamentary Labour Party after two weeks of leadership speculation, Reeves told MPs that "politics is a team sport" and insisted the Budget would contain policies they could sell confidently to constituents."

""When you look at the distributional analysis you'll see this is a Labour Budget, a progressive Budget, a Budget I'm proud of," she said. However, she warned MPs that the measures must be taken "as a package, not a pick and mix", telling them: "You might like 95% of it and dislike 5%, but we have to deliver this together.""

"Reeves assured MPs that tax rises would be "kept to a minimum", with the Budget focused on cutting the cost of living, reducing NHS waiting lists and lowering the cost of government debt. She argued that bringing down borrowing costs was essential to freeing up money for public services. The Chancellor stressed she was "determined to keep the contributions people make as low as possible", adding that support for household budgets would filter through to consumer spending and boost business activity."

The Budget is presented as fair and progressive and is positioned as essential to delivering the government's economic agenda, requiring collective backing from Labour MPs. MPs are urged to treat politics as a team sport and present the Budget's policies confidently to constituents. The package is to be implemented as a whole rather than selected parts. Tax rises are pledged to be minimal, with priorities on cutting the cost of living, reducing NHS waiting lists and lowering the cost of government debt to free funds for public services. Growth forecasts are expected to be downgraded across the next five years. Early measures highlighted include higher national living wage, expanded childcare, protected triple lock and freezes on certain charges and fares.

Read at Business Matters