Watch live as Rachel Reeves sets out her economic priorities in a pre-Budget speech on Tuesday (4 November).
She is expected to address speculation that she will break Labour’s manifesto commitments on tax rises.
During the speech in Downing Street, the Chancellor will say that the Budget, which will be announced on 26 November, will focus on “fairness and opportunity”.
It is aimed at reducing NHS waiting lists, the national debt, and the cost of living.
She is expected to say that it will be “led by this government’s values, of fairness and opportunity and focused squarely on the priorities of the British people”.
The speech has been dubbed as an “emergency press conference” by shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride, who said Ms Reeves should be fired if she hikes taxes, which he believes are “on the way”.
Speculation has mounted about the possibility that the chancellor will break one of Labour’s main manifesto pledges on tax.
In their 2024 manifesto, the party promised not to raise any of the main taxes.
It vowed not to “increase taxes on working people”, meaning they would not raise National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT.
On Monday (3 November), Sir Keir Starmer said it would be a “Labour budget based on Labour values”, though he added that there would be “tough but fair decisions”.
Speaking at a party meeting in Westminster, he told Labour MPs that the long-term impact of Conservative austerity and a botched Brexit deal “is worse than even we feared”.
