Before the last Election, Rachel Reeves assured the British people that there would be no need to raise taxes and that her plans were fully costed. Those were firm promises, made to build trust and reassure working families, businesses, and investors that Labour could be relied upon to manage the nation’s finances responsibly. Yet within months of taking office, the Chancellor broke that promise. Taxes were increased by £40 billion – including a £25 billion tax on jobs.
At the time, the Chancellor insisted this was a one-off. That the books had been balanced and the slate wiped clean. Now, before even delivering her second Budget, Reeves has conceded that more tax increases are coming.
A misguided political decision
The Chancellor’s emergency press conference at the beginning of November confirmed what Britain feared: Reeves has no plan for growth, only a plan for more taxes. Behind the warm words about “fairness” was a simple truth – when Labour runs out of money, they come after yours. Instead of discipline, we heard excuses. Instead of a strategy, we heard spin. And instead of reassurance, we got confirmation that another round of tax rises is already being prepared.
The Chancellor’s choices have far-reaching consequences. Under Reeves, Labour has embarked on a borrowing spree that dwarfs anything seen outside of a national emergency. The Government is taking on hundreds of billions more debt than the plans it inherited and is set to spend nearly half a trillion pounds extra over the course of this Parliament. There is no pandemic, no global shock, no crisis to justify this. It is a political decision – and one never put to the electorate.
Reeves says, “The world has thrown challenges our way”, but leadership is about meeting challenges, not hiding behind them. Every Chancellor faces headwinds – what matters is how you steer the ship. Reeves has chosen to spend recklessly, borrow without restraint and pile the bill on working families.
Debt under the Conservative Government
Contrast this with the record of the last Conservative Government. Before the pandemic struck, debt as a share of the economy was falling, precisely because we made the difficult choices needed to keep the public finances under control. That discipline gave Britain the flexibility to protect jobs and businesses when COVID-19 hit.
“A responsible government today should, again, be focused on controlling spending and reducing debt” ~ Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Sir Mel Stride MP.
A responsible government today should, again, be focused on controlling spending and reducing debt – especially with annual interest payments on government borrowing now exceeding £100 billion. Instead, Labour is heading in the opposite direction. Borrowing more, spending more, and taxing more is not stability. It is short-term politics at the expense of long-term prosperity.
Reeves and “necessary choices”
Reeves has spoken about “necessary choices”. The necessary choice is to live within our means, not to raid the pockets of those who already do. The necessary choice is reform, not endless tax rises that choke growth and punish aspiration. Labour’s choices aren’t necessary, they’re avoidable. And they’re the result of economic mismanagement, not economic necessity.
The Chancellor claims to be delivering stability, yet borrowing £100 billion in just six months – the highest figure on record outside the pandemic – is anything but stable. And neither is a welfare system whose costs rise without restraint, or an economy where inflation has doubled and business confidence has fallen. True stability comes from a government that lives within its means and makes every pound of public money count.
The answer is not to tax working people further but to get a grip on spending. At the Conservative Party Conference, I outlined £47 billion of achievable savings across government – efficiencies that could reduce the deficit, ease pressure on taxpayers and help the economy grow. These are practical, responsible reforms, not reckless cuts. They represent the same care with public money that households and small businesses apply every day.
“The Chancellor claims to be delivering stability, yet borrowing £100 billion in just six months – the highest figure on record outside the pandemic – is anything but stable” ~ Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Sir Mel Stride MP.
Reports suggest the Chancellor is considering a reduction in Cash ISA allowances – penalising millions of responsible savers who have done the right thing. A government so quick to borrow without restraint should not be punishing those who show restraint themselves.
Other rumoured measures are equally concerning, including freezes to income-tax thresholds, further changes to National Insurance, and new levies on professionals such as doctors, solicitors, and accountants. When governments cannot control spending, they inevitably turn to the taxpayer.
The budget’s impact on other policy-making decisions
The same lack of discipline is evident in welfare policy. Instead of implementing the reforms I put forward as Work and Pensions Secretary – a system that rewards work and targets support effectively – Labour has allowed costs to spiral. It’s led to more borrowing, higher taxes, and fewer incentives to work – a vicious cycle that future generations will have to pay for. A serious government would reform welfare to make it fairer and more sustainable.
Under Reeves’ watch, inflation has risen sharply, the cost of living remains high, and interest rates are likely to stay higher for longer because confidence in fiscal discipline is fading. Markets are growing uneasy. Business investment has slowed, and productivity growth is weakening. Even within Downing Street, there are reports that the Prime Minister is building his own economic team – a clear sign of waning confidence in Reeves’ management.
Britain cannot afford another Budget like the last one. Borrowing and spending on this scale will not deliver prosperity; it will undermine it. What this country needs is a credible plan to restore confidence, reform welfare and rebuild growth through enterprise, not endless expansion of the state.
Abolishing stamp duty
The Conservatives have such a plan: reduce unnecessary spending, restore fiscal discipline and create the conditions for lower, simpler taxes that reward hard work and aspiration. That should begin with abolishing stamp duty – one of the most damaging taxes in our economy. Economists across the spectrum agree that it discourages mobility, deters investment and makes it harder for families to buy their first home. Under a disciplined approach to spending, we could afford to scrap both while still bringing down the deficit.
Britain’s strength has always come from combining sound money with social responsibility – from governments that support enterprise, reward effort and protect the next generation from the debts of today. The current course does none of those things.
The choice before the country is clear. Labour’s path is one of higher borrowing, uncontrolled spending, and broken promises. The Conservative alternative is founded on discipline, fairness, and growth – a belief that prosperity is built through hard work, innovation, and responsible government, not through ever-rising taxes and debt.
