Defiant Rachel Reeves hits back at ‘lies’ accusation – ‘I’m lifting kids out of poverty’

Chancellor Rachel Reeves hit back at accusations she had lied ahead of the Budget – saying ‘of course’ she didn’t as she pointed to measures to tackle child poverty

Rachel Reeves has defended her Budget measures

Defiant Rachel Reeves has hit back at accusations she lied about the dire state of public finances before the Budget – saying “of course I didn’t”.

The Chancellor said her decisions would lead to “the biggest ever reduction in child poverty in a Parliament ever” as she defended raising taxes. She said she was faced with having a buffer of just £4.2billion unless she acted.

In her Budget on Wednesday, Ms Reeves said everyone would have to do their part as she announced £26billion of tax rises. She said she had been “honest and frank about that” at the start of the month.

Rachel Reeves defended the measures in her Budget last Wednesday(Image: House of Commons)

And she told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “I said when I became Chancellor I would judge my time in office as a success if there were more ordinary children from working class backgrounds living fulfilling lives. And lifting half a million kids out of poverty achieves exactly that. That is what I believe, and that is what my party believes.”

The Chancellor faces a storm after indicating in a speech on November 6 that she was facing a black hole. But forecasters the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) later confirmed it had predicted she would have a small surplus.

Asked by Sky News host Sir Trevor Phillips whether she had lied, she replied: “Of course I didn’t.”

The surplus would have been £4.2billion – down from £9.9billion in the Spring – which Ms Reeves said would not have been enough. She said: “If I was on this programme today and I said I’ve got a £4.2 billion surplus, you would have said, and rightly so, ‘that is not enough, Chancellor’.”

Ms Reeves added: “I said in that speech (on November 6) that I wanted to achieve three things in the Budget: tackling the cost of living, which is why I took £150 off of energy bills, and froze prescription charges and rail fares. I wanted to continue to cut NHS waiting lists, which is why I protected NHS spending, and I wanted to bring the debt and the borrowing down, which is one of the reasons why I increased the headroom of £4billion.

“The headroom would not have been enough, and it would not give the Bank of England space to continue to cut interest rates.”

And the Chancellor – who announced the controversial two child benefit limit was being lifted – said: “Look, I’m a Labour Chancellor. I want to reduce child poverty, I make no apologies for that. This will be the biggest ever reduction in child poverty in a Parliament, ever.

“And I’m proud to be the Chancellor that lifts half a million kids out of poverty. That means kids not going to bed hungry. It means kids not waking up in cold and damp homes.”

Vowing to take on her critics, Ms Reeves said: “I have been underestimated all my life. As a young girl, from an ordinary background people make assumptions about me.

“And I’ve defied them before, and I will defy my critics again. I’m proud of my Budget this week. I’m proud that I’m taking money off of energy bills, I’m proud I’m reducing NHS waiting lists, proud that I’m cutting child poverty.

“I’m proud that I put our public finances on a sustainable future.” And she went on: “Other people, can make other choices, but they have to explain why they wouldn’t take children out of poverty, why they wouldn’t reduce NHS waiting lists, or why they wouldn’t take money off people’s bills. I’ve made my choices. I am more than happy to defend them.”