Reeves warns one Budget can't fix 14 years of damage

Rachel Reeves has warned that tomorrow’s Budget will just be the beginning of painful measures to fix “14 years of Tory damage”.

- DAVID MADDOX, REBECCA THOMAS

The chancellor joined health secretary Wes Streeting for a hospital visit to highlight NHS funding ahead of her first major financial statement since becoming chancellor in July.

But with the prime minister also warning of “tough choices” ahead, Ms Reeves suggested that the expected tax rises this week will not be the end of difficult decisions to fix the country. She has promised to produce economic growth but also pledged to her party that there will be “no new austerity”.

However, with warnings that expected tax rises on capital gains, inheritance and employers’ national insurance will harm economic growth, Ms Reeves was unwilling to say whether that or avoiding austerity is her top priority.

She told journalists: “First of all, we said in our manifesto, and I said in my conference speech, there have been no return to austerity under this government. And we said during the election campaign that there would be an immediate injection of cash into our public services, particularly our NHS, which is on its knees after 14 years of Conservative government.

“But we have got to bring in that reform that is needed for public services, and we have to grow our economy, because that is the only sustainable way to have the money that we need to build better public services.”