Susanna Reid and Lorraine have both mocked Rachel Reeves for her desperate attempts to soften up voters before her manifesto-breaking Budget with a ‘bonkers’ speech that told viewers ‘nothing’.
The Chancellor sought to blame Brexit and the Tories – as well as international economic headwinds – for tax rises in her upcoming fiscal package, despite Labour‘s election vow not to increase income tax, national insurance or VAT.
But her long-winded address from Downing Street went down poorly with Susanna and Lorraine, with the breakfast TV hosts both agreeing she had said ‘nothing’ of substance.
The Good Morning Britain host reacted first by saying: ‘What’s changed in the course of that speech?
‘I don’t understand why the Treasury decided to take up that much airtime for breakfast television viewers and then say I’m not going to tell you what’s in the Budget.’
At this point Lorraine appeared for a brief segment promoting her show. Turning to her, Susanna said: ‘Do you know what it reminds me of?
‘It reminds me of a moment when you were watching an interview where the guest said nothing and you said ”What was the point of that?”.’
Lorraine replied: ‘As you said, it was long and she in the end wouldn’t answer any questions about what she’d do at the end of November anyway. That was bonkers.’
Rachel Reeves’ pre-Budget speech went down poorly with Susanna Reid and Lorraine
The Chancellor sought to blame Brexit and the Tories – as well as international economic headwinds – for tax rises in her upcoming fiscal package
In a blatant damage limitation exercise ahead of her announcements on November 26, Ms Reeves said there is a ‘clear choice’ between ‘investment and hope, or cuts and division’.
Ominously hinting at broad tax assault, she warned that ‘we will all have to contribute’ to getting the country back on track.
‘These are important choices that will shape the future of our country for years to come,’ she said.
Ms Reeves repeatedly dodged invitations to repeat Labour’s election vow not to increase income tax, national insurance or VAT.
She said she would do ‘what is right’ rather than ‘popular’ and prioritise ‘protecting our NHS, reducing our national debt, and improving the cost of living’.
‘Any Chancellor of any party would be standing here facing the choices that I face,’ she insisted.
The intervention effectively confirms that Brits face another brutal raid, with the black hole in the public finances estimated at between £20billion and £50billion.
That potentially includes increases to income tax, council tax and pain for the ‘wealthy’.
Standing in front of a podium with the slogan ‘strong foundations, secure future’ and flanked by Union Jacks, Ms Reeves said there were no ‘easy answers’.
She warned that markets could be even more negative about lending to the UK if they did not believe her commitment to meeting her fiscal rules.
But it is barely a year since the Chancellor claimed her first Budget – the biggest tax-raiser on record – had ‘wiped the slate clean’.
‘I’m really clear. I’m not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes,’ she told the CBI last November.
Treasury officials are said to have been ordered to find ways of getting more money out of everyone with incomes of more than £45,000 a year.
Insiders claim that only Brits below that threshold – the bottom two-thirds of earners – are being defined as ‘working people’ to receive protection from Labour’s tax assault.
That effectively brands the top third of earners as ‘wealthy’ – encompassing jobs such as HGV drivers, teachers and head chefs at the Wagamama restaurant chain.
Sources have confirmed that bigger property taxes are on the radar.
The Chancellor is said to be looking at dramatically hiking council tax for the top bands, which could affect over a million families.
That could mean an eye-watering rise from £3,800 to £7,600 for residents of a band G household in England – and from £4,560 a year to £9,120 for those in band H.
The Conservatives have urged the PM to sack his Chancellor if she breaks Labour’s tax pledges to the country.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said: ‘Rachel Reeves has made an emergency speech because she is panicking about the speculation she has fuelled. But all she’s done is confirm the fears of households and businesses – that tax rises are coming.
‘The Chancellor claims she fixed the public finances last year. If that was true, she would not be rolling the pitch for more tax rises and broken promises. The reality is she fiddled the fiscal rules so she could borrow hundreds of billions more.
‘Every time the numbers don’t add up, Reeves blames someone else. But this is about choices – and she made all the wrong ones.
‘If Rachel Reeves had the backbone to get control of government spending – including the welfare bill – she wouldn’t need to raise taxes. If she breaks her promises yet again, enough is enough. She must go.’