Reeves pledges to ‘grip cost of living’ in Budget as tax hikes expected

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged to “grip the cost of living” in her Budget next week.

In an example of one move aiming to ease the pressure on people’s finances, rail fares are to be frozen for the first time in 30 years in England, saving commuters on more expensive routes more than £300 a year.

But at the same time Ms Reeves is widely expected to raise taxes on November 26 in an effort to bridge a multibillion-pound gap in her spending plans.

Writing in The Mirror, the Chancellor acknowledged that high prices “hit ordinary families most” and that the economy “feels stuck” for too many.

“That’s why in my Budget on Wednesday I will take action to grip the cost of living,” she said.

Ms Reeves is grappling with weak economic growth, persistent inflation and an expected downgrade to official productivity forecasts as she prepares her statement.

“Delivering on our promise to make people better off is not possible if we don’t get a grip on inflation,” she wrote in The Sunday Times.

“It is a fundamental precursor to economic growth. It is essential to make families better off and for businesses to thrive.

“There is an urgent need to ease the pressure on households now. It will require direct action by this government to get inflation under control.”

She said reforms would change the welfare system from “trapping millions of people on benefits” to one “designed to help people succeed”.

Sir Keir Starmer declined to pre-empt the Chancellor when asked by reporters at the G20 in South Africa whether he could guarantee future Labour budgets would not contain tax hikes.

The Prime Minister said: “Obviously I do want the Budget to focus on growth, stability, which is the two pillars that are really important.”

An extension of the freeze on income tax thresholds is among rumoured measures and would see more people dragged into paying tax for the first time or shifted into a higher rate as their wages go up.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the Chancellor should “have the balls” to admit that such a move would breach Labour’s manifesto promise not to raise taxes on working people.

Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride told the Sunday Express that Ms Reeves should step down if she breaks the manifesto promise, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, writing in The Sun On Sunday, said the Budget “looks set to hammer pensioners, savers, homeowners, small business owners and working people”.

Keeping national insurance and income tax thresholds frozen for two further years until April 2030 would raise around £8.3 billion a year by 2029–30, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Ms Reeves is also expected to scrap the two-child benefit cap, in a move that could cost more than £3 billion.

She is set to add £1.3 billion to a grant cutting upfront costs for buyers of electric cars, but is also expected to hit them with a pay-per-mile scheme.

And some £48 million for 350 new planners to boost UK Government efforts to build 1.5 million new homes is reportedly to come.

A Treasury source said the Chancellor is also expected to announce all care leavers would be guaranteed full student loan support, worth up to £13,500 per person.

Other measures expected include £5 million for secondary schools to buy more books for their libraries, an £18 million scheme to revamp playgrounds in England, and a crackdown on shops selling illegal vapes.

Commenting on the rail freezes, Plaid Cymru’s Westminster Leader, Liz Saville Roberts MP said: “Freezing rail fares will be welcome news for commuters in England after years of relentless increases. Yet it inevitably prompts the question of why the Labour Welsh Government, after 26 years in power, has never offered the same support to passengers in Wales struggling with rising travel costs.

“This announcement will be particularly disappointing to people across Wales because it highlights a much deeper issue. While meaningful action is taken in England to ease pressure on travellers and strengthen infrastructure, Wales continues to be shortchanged from decades of chronic underinvestment in our rail network.

“It is extremely important to remember that when Labour were in opposition, they agreed with Plaid Cymru that Wales was owed at least £4 billion in Barnett consequentials from HS2. Now in power, they refuse to deliver our fair share, echoing the behaviour of their Conservative predecessors. On top of this, they are denying Wales further funding through their absurd decision to classify the Oxford–Cambridge line as an ‘England and Wales’ project.

“Wales deserves what we are owed. That is why Plaid Cymru is calling on the Chancellor to reclassify both HS2 and the Oxford–Cambridge line as England-only projects, in order to release at least £4 billion in funding for Wales. Today’s announcement raises a stark question about the priorities of this UK Government, and in which part of the UK they choose to act to improve people’s lives.”