Reeves will need ‘Corbynist catalogue' of tax rises to back up spending
Ms Reeves denied the Treasury would produce a 'repeat' of last October's budget and said the Government had 'already drawn a line under the Tory mismanagement'.
But shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride told MPs that Wednesday's spending review was a 'fantasy' and 'not worth the paper that it is written on'.
Responding to Ms Reeves's spending plans, the Conservative frontbencher told the Commons: 'This is the spend now, tax later review, because (the Chancellor) knows she will need to come back here in the autumn with yet more taxes and a cruel summer of speculation awaits.
'How can we possibly take this Chancellor seriously after the chaos of the last 12 months?'
Sir Mel labelled Ms Reeves 'the tinfoil Chancellor, flimsy and ready to fold in the face of the slightest pressure', who he said was 'weak, weak, weak'.
He added: 'She is constantly teetering on the edge of blowing her fiscal rules, which she already changed to allow even more borrowing.
'And the only way she can claim to be meeting her rules is by pretending that she can control spending over the coming years.'
As part of the Government's plans, departmental budgets are forecast to grow by an annual average of 2.3% across the period 2023/24 to 2028/29.
Ms Reeves also promised a 'record cash investment in our NHS', with an extra £29 billion per year for day-to-day running costs, plus money for rail projects including £3.5 billion additional funding for the TransPennine route upgrade between York and Manchester, and £2.5 billion more for the Cambridge-to-Oxford East West Rail.
'The Chancellor knows she will have to come back in the autumn with more tax rises to fund these plans,' Sir Mel said.
'Or can she assure us right now that this is not the case? Yes or no?'
Referring to the former Labour leader and now independent MP for Islington North Jeremy Corbyn, Sir Mel said: 'We know that the Deputy Prime Minister (Angela Rayner) has helpfully provided her with an entire brochure of tax rises that she will no doubt be perusing over the summer, the 'Corbynist catalogue'.'
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride responds after Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her spending review to MPs (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA)
He told MPs: 'Her tone today suggests that all is well, the sunny uplands await.
'What a hopeless conceit. A masterclass in delusion.'
Ms Reeves hit back that Sir Mel was 'Stride by name, 'baby steps' by nature'.
She said he had 'welcomed our nuclear investment of £30 billion' and continued: 'But he said it's not enough. He welcomed our defence investments of £11 billion, but he said it was not enough.
'He and his party opposed the decisions that this Government has taken to make those announcements possible, by voting against the budget in October last year.
'You can't spend the money if you won't raise the money. Now, that's a lesson from Liz Truss that he has already forgotten.
'He complains about the level of investment that I've announced, ignoring the fact that the reason this investment is so important is because his party oversaw 14 years of cratering investment, stagnating wages and public service collapse.'
She said the more comprehensive budget later this year will 'set out in the round all of the fiscal plans' and added: 'We have already drawn a line under the Tory mismanagement with tax rises last year.
'And we will never have to repeat a budget like that again, because we will never have to clean up after the mess that the party opposite made.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
42 minutes ago
- BBC News
Rift between farmers and government remains despite £2.7bn boost
A rift between farmers and the government still exists despite a spending review providing £2.7bn boost to agriculture, a farming leader has told BBC Politics farmer Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers' Union, said the government's changes to inheritance tax for agricultural land will have a "human impact" which is "simply not acceptable"."This is a very real threat to the farming business. While that hangs over the farming industry, this relationship (with the government) will not be repaired," he government said food security is vital and it is taking further action and providing extra funds to support British farmers. Under the government's plans, from April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, will be subject to inheritance tax at 20% - half the usual President Tom Bradshaw said: "At a time when we're increasing our defence spending that tells us we live in a volatile world."The other side is food security. We need to make sure we still continue to invest in this country's food production."He said it is not an "either/or" situation with regards to food or land management."I think they need to prioritise both at a time of global insecurity," he said the government needs to "take the brakes off investment, because farms are investing in reservoirs, buildings and poultry sheds today". "They are committed to food production for the next decade and beyond," he said."The relationship with the government is overshadowed by the budget and the announcement on inheritance tax and yesterday (the spending review) was another missed opportunity for the chancellor to recognise this needed to be changed," he Bradshaw has criticised the "devastating family farm tax which will mean many farming families continue to be left in the lurch, unable to afford the future tax bill".He said there was a rift with the government despite being supportive of spending review and trade deals."On trade policy so far the government has looked after us pretty well," he said."They said they weren't going to cross those red lines on animal health and welfare standards and they have stuck to that." Farming minister Daniel Zeichner MP (Lab, Cambridge) said: "Food security is vital to our national security, which is the foundation of our Plan for Change, and our commitment to farming remains steadfast."That's why we are investing £2.7bn a year into sustainable food production and nature's recovery, with funding for our Environmental Land Management schemes increasing by 150%."However, we must go further to support farmers across the country. "We are slashing costs for food producers to export to the EU, have appointed former NFU president Baroness Minette Batters to recommend reforms to boost farmers' profits, and we're ensuring farmers get a fair share of food contracts for our schools, hospitals, and prisons." BBC Verify Many of the claims from the government have been hotly contested by farmers, and BBC Verify has come under scrutiny over some of the figures it has relied on to try to establish the number of farms impacted by the debate has revolved around estimates provided by farmers' groups, including that the new tax could "harm" up to 70,000 farms over Verify found that the figure was likely to be somewhere closer to the number provided by the government - about 500 estates per groups say the changes have been "built on bad data". The government says it wants to make the inheritance tax system fairer and discourage wealthy people from investing in land solely to avoid the tax. BBC Politics East will be broadcast on Sunday 15 June at 10:00 GMT on BBC One in the East of England, and will be available after broadcast on BBC Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Scotsman
an hour ago
- Scotsman
Scottish politics isn't necessarily as bitter and divided as it seems
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... I have a confession to make. It's not something I'm proud of, because who would be, but it is something you should know. I am English. I understand it's a shock, especially if you've somehow missed our video content, award-winning podcast and my appearances on whichever broadcaster will have me. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A saltire flag and Union Jack flutter in the wind. Picture: JeffIt means, nearly five years ago, I came to Scottish politics with things to learn. I was an experienced journalist in Westminster, but had not lived the Scottish experience. I merely adopted Scotland, I wasn't born in it. Moulded in it. As such, aside from my extensive reading as a dedicated student of the game, my expectations were it would not be like any other patch. The views on both sides of the independence debate were too entrenched, the vitriol felt was too strong, the wounds were too deep. Now, as I walk off into what I hope is a sunset, I can tell you I was wrong. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Scottish politics isn't nearly as bitter and divided as it can seem at times, especially online. Working in Westminster, I see the loudest and most vocal critics of each side having a beer together in Parliament. I listen to SNP MPs talking about trips they've been on with Tories, and the funny experiences they won't share publicly 'til they leave Parliament. Following issues that go beyond the debate of the day, I witness Labour working with the SNP, and hear of rivals having a regular snooker game. Alexander Brown has been here since Boris Johnson was Prime Minister | Getty Images More importantly, they're just nice. It's nowhere near as tribal as you think. I've routinely been called a Sturgeonista (despite my accent) or a Tory stooge online and, while I'm grateful for balance, it's also not representative of what politics is. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad These people don't hate each other. They aren't arguing with each other in comment sections. Sometimes the outrage is simply manufactured, playing to the gallery encouraging people to lose their minds, shortly before going for tea in the Parliament canteen. I'd add that given how biased everyone feels the media is, we sure do spend a lot of our time speaking to all the different parties. In short, Scottish politics, despite the myth of Scottish exceptionalism, is not that dissimilar to politics in the rest of the UK. Sure, there's an independence debate, but the main issues facing the country are the NHS, education, the green transition, access to rural services. Other than the ferries' farce, it's basically the same. Now you can argue that independence could fix those, but it's still the same problems as down here. That's not an argument for unionism, just a reminder that what happens in Westminster really does matter. To paraphrase one of the few successful, albeit accidental separatists, we're all in this together. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad My other main takeaway is that despite these shared values, successive UK administrations have still been a bit scared of Scotland. No prime minister has done a sit-down. Ministers avoid doing huddles in case they're caught out. You deserve better and it's appalling this has not changed since I started. This is all a long-winded way of saying I'm leaving The Scotsman, but my love of Scotland is going nowhere.
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Scottish Tories struggle to be heard after election skelping
'We stopped Nicola Sturgeon converting her gender bill into law. And we have watched Labour try government — but Sir Keir Starmer keeps dropping the ball.' But for all the jibes, the problem facing Mr Findlay's party is that they are struggling to even get on the pitch. READ MORE Findlay: Tories can win seats at Holyrood election despite polls pointing to drubbing Tories unveil plans for 'Scottish first' medical student training policy For Women Scotland threaten SNP with fresh legal action over Supreme Court ruling The party suffered its worst-ever defeat at last year's general election, slumping to just 121 seats UK-wide — a loss of 244. In Scotland, the scale of the collapse was slightly masked. Despite a chaotic campaign that saw Douglas Ross alienate members and then quit before polling day, the party managed to hold on to five of its six seats. Although the Tory vote halved, support for the SNP — the main challengers in each Conservative-held seat — declined even more sharply. The ghosts of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak continue to haunt the party, while the spectre of Nigel Farage looms ever larger. The latest projections from Professor Sir John Curtice, based on last month's Survation poll, paint a bleak picture for next year's Holyrood vote. His modelling has the Tories slumping to fourth place with just 13 MSPs — less than half their current tally of 30. The SNP would return 58 seats, while Reform UK would leapfrog the Conservatives to become the main opposition on 21. Labour would win 18 seats, with the LibDems and Greens on 10 and 8 respectively. Mr Findlay did not shy away from the scale of the challenge, admitting that a huge effort would be needed to even earn the right to be heard. Yet despite the grim outlook, the party is hopeful. 'You would think we had no right to be as upbeat as we are, but it is the phenomena of the Conservative Party,' said Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland. 'Against all of the odds, we are feeling genuinely optimistic and positive.'I think we knew that 2024 was going to be terrible. Having taken that skelping, I think people are back to renew the party — and that is the strong statement of both Russell and Kemi's remarks.' 'We are sitting in a much diminished form at Westminster, our worst ever election result in over 250 years of the Conservative Party really being in existence. And really beginning the fightback,' shadow Scottish secretary Andrew Bowie told Unspun Live, The Herald's politics podcast. 'And that is where we are right now — beginning that long, hard slog of regaining the trust of the British people, hopefully with a view to getting back into power in short order in four years' time.' Mr Findlay has settled into the role of party leader. He is much more relaxed and less like the deer trapped in the headlights he resembled when he took over from Douglas Ross last September. He is putting the effort in. One Tory staffer said the boss had rehearsed his 42-minute address at least eight times before delivering it to party members on Saturday lunchtime. It was an unashamedly Conservative speech with a raft of policies rooted in the party's traditional values: tax cuts funded by £650 million in savings from slashing quangos and civil service jobs; scrapping the SNP's 2045 net zero target; and a pledge to train more Scottish medical students to reduce NHS reliance on immigration. For years, Scottish Tory speeches at conference have been dominated by saying no to indyref2. That was in Mr Findlay's speech, of course — but it was his programme for government that was to the fore. 'The way we beat Reform is by having good, proper policies in place. We have not seen very much from Reform policy-wise,' North East list MSP Douglas Lumsden told The Herald on Sunday. 'I still think there is enough time [to turn things around]. It is 11 months before the election and this is about building a positive message we can take next year. 'We absolutely need to move on from the past.' The scale of the party's challenge — and the threat from Reform — was made painfully clear earlier this month at the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, where the Tories came a distant fourth. In a seat where they had won 17.5% at the last Holyrood election, they only just managed to hold on to their Reform took 26% of the vote. While Labour's surprise win has led to grumblings in the SNP, Mr Lumsden insists the party is united behind Mr Findlay. 'We are 100% behind Russell. There is no briefing at all from anyone. Russell has a brilliant personality and the more people who get to know him the more they like him — so we need to promote Russell.' READ MORE While Mr Findlay's position might be safe, the same cannot be said for Kemi Badenoch. Potential leadership hopefuls are on manoeuvres. The leader of the opposition delivered her speech on Friday. It was only her second trip to Scotland since becoming leader in November. 'There is a lot of work to be done, a lot of messaging, a lot of renewal — and she has got the runway that Russell and the rest of us do not have,' Mr Kerr said. 'I am not worried about threats to her leadership. She is letting her colleagues get on with it. She is not a leader who is lying awake worrying about a challenge to her leadership,' he added. 'Anybody who is going to contest Kemi or Russell for leadership right now is mad — because the challenges will not change.' Mr Kerr compared Ms Badenoch to Margaret Thatcher: 'I am old enough to remember our first female leader and the same stuff was being said about her in terms of her role as Leader of the Opposition and her performance and PMQs — and look what happened to her.' 'You know, we have been written off as a party before,' Mr Findlay told The Herald on Sunday. 'There are many people at this conference who have been around for a very long time, and they have seen some pretty dark days. 'And you know what keeps people going? You know that resilience that we all saw in the hall today — it is because we know that what we stand for is right. 'We stand for personal responsibility, lower taxation, fairer taxes for people, integrity and ensuring the very best public services. We want a Scottish Parliament that is entirely focused on delivering for Scotland — not the fringe obsessions of the SNP and Labour.'So we will be fighting for every single vote.' Murrayfield is used to resilience and fighting talk — it is also, however, no stranger to the wooden spoon, a fate Mr Findlay will be desperae to avoid next May.
