UK politics latest: Reeves refuses to rule out more cuts amid growing Labour backlash
Rachel Reeves has refused to rule out further cuts or future tax hikes, as she faces criticism from members of her own party following her spring statement.
The Chancellor did not deny more measures could be announced at her next budget in response to speculation she will be forced to find more money to balance the books.
'I'm not going to write four years of budgets, I've just delivered a spring statement today,' she said.
Delivering her spring statement on Wednesday, the chancellor unveiled a £14bn package to repair the UK economy that included cuts to welfare, prompting criticism from Labour MPs who urged her to reverse cuts amid warnings they will lead to increased poverty.
Labour MP Debbie Abrahams, who chairs the Work and Pensions Committee, told the Commons: 'All the evidence is pointing to the fact that the cuts to health and disability benefits will lead to increased poverty, including severe poverty, and worsened health conditions as well.
'How will making people sicker and poorer help in terms of driving our economy up and people into jobs?'
Rachel Reeves defends freebies: 'I'm not personally a huge Sabrina Carpenter fan, being a 46-year-old woman'
Athena Stavrou27 March 2025 05:01
Comment: No matter what Rachel Reeves says, Labour is delivering austerity 2.0
Labour faces two major battles after the chancellor's spring statement, writes Andrew Grice – keeping the UK economy on track while facing rebellion from MPs and the public.
No matter what Rachel Reeves says, Labour is delivering Austerity 2.0
Labour faces two major battles after the chancellor's spring statement, writes Andrew Grice – keeping the UK economy on track while facing rebellion from MPs and the public
Athena Stavrou27 March 2025 04:01
Reeves rejects own government's findings of cuts pushing 250,000 into poverty
Rachel Reeves has denied her own government's findings that her welfare reforms will push 250,000 people into poverty while refusing to rule out further cuts.
The chancellor wants to save £5 billion from the UK's ballooning welfare bill by making it harder to claim Personal Independence Payments and cutting Universal Credit.
An impact assessment, published today by the Department of Work and Pensions, said 3.2 million families – including current and future benefit claimants – will lose an average of £1,720 a year as a result of the changes.
An impact assessment, published today by the Department of Work and Pensions, said 3.2 million families will lose an average of £1,720 a year as a result of the changes
Athena Stavrou27 March 2025 03:01
Watch: Key takeaways from Rachel Reeves' spring statement
27 March 2025 02:00
Comment: With Reeves's disability cuts in the spring statement, Labour really has become the 'nasty party'
So now we know: it is disabled Britons who will carry the burden of ensuring that Rachel Reeves can remain within her self-declared fiscal rules while the economy stumbles. Some £4.8bn of cuts to welfare benefits are planned.
First off, there's Universal Credit, which provides a top-up payment for those with 'limited capability for work and work-related activity' (LCWRA). The government is set to halve this health-based payment, after which it will be frozen for new claimants. People already have to have their ability to work assessed before they can claim.
Those assessments are neither pleasant nor easy: you have to be really quite disabled to get past first base. The hated Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is slated to be scrapped. Instead, only those who qualify for the daily living component of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will be eligible for the top-up.
James Moore writes:
With Reeves's monstrous disability cuts, Labour really has become the 'nasty party'
Forget the economics: The chancellor's cuts to welfare risk junking this government's reputation – and legacy – for years to come, warns James Moore
Tara Cobham27 March 2025 01:00
Rachel Reeves hikes fines for paying tax returns late
Taxpayers face higher fines for not paying VAT and income tax self assessment (Itsa) on time under new rules announced as part of Chancellor Rachel Reeves' spring statement.
Late payment penalties for the two levies are to rise in April as part of a Government push to raise more than £1 billion in extra tax revenue.
People who file their Vat and Itsa tax returns late will have to pay 3 per cent of the outstanding bill when it is overdue by 15 days, up one percentage point on the current level.
After 30 days, the penalty rises by another 3 per cent, up from 2 per cent currently, while there will also be a 10 per cent charge per annum when tax is overdue by 31 days or more, up from 4 per cent.
Labour also said it is also expanding its rollout of its scheme to digitise the tax system, called Making Tax Digital.
The system will be expanded to sole traders and landlords with incomes over £20,000 from April 2028.
And the Treasury 'will continue to explore how it can best bring the benefits of digitalisation' to the roughly four million taxpayers whose income is below the £20,000 threshold, it said.
Tara Cobham27 March 2025 00:00
What would you like to see from Rachel Reeves' spring statement? Join The Independent Debate
Rachel Reeves' spring statement is fast approaching, and on Wednesday, people across the UK will learn how her announcements will impact their finances, sparking renewed debate about the future of living standards in the country.
A new forecast from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggests that average disposable incomes could fall by 3 per cent by 2030, with the lowest earners affected the most.
The chancellor has hinted at spending cuts to address a £20bn gap in public finances while ruling out tax rises as a solution.
What should the chancellor's top priority be? Vote in our poll below and share your thoughts in the comments:
Tell us what you would you like to see from Reeves' spring statement
Have your say: The chancellor's spring statement is just around the corner, bringing with it new concerns about the future of living standards in the UK
Tara Cobham26 March 2025 23:30
Ban on outdoor smoking in hospitality settings not being considered, says minister
Extending an outdoor smoking ban to hospitality settings is not being considered 'at this time', a health minister told the Commons.
The government distanced itself from plans to ban smoking in the gardens of pubs, bars and restaurants last year, following concerns raised by the hospitality sector.
Smoking outside schools, children's playgrounds and hospitals will be prohibited under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
The Bill also aims to create a smoke-free generation with anyone born after January 1 2009 to be prevented from legally smoking, by gradually raising the age at which tobacco can be bought.
A total ban on vape advertising and sponsorship, including displays seen by children and young people such as on buses, in cinemas and in shop windows, is also included in the Bill, bringing them in line with tobacco restrictions.
Speaking at the Bill's report stage, health minister Ashley Dalton urged MPs not to listen to the 'tobacco industry's arguments and myths about how people should be free to make their own choices'.
She added: 'Smoking kills two-thirds of its users, three-quarters of people wish they'd never started smoking, and the majority want to quit. That's not freedom of choice, the tobacco industry took away their choice with addiction, usually at a young age.
'In relation to smoke-free places, we've been clear, in England we intend to consult on extending smoke-free outdoor places to outside schools, children's playgrounds and hospitals – but not outdoor hospitality settings, at this time.'
Tara Cobham26 March 2025 23:00
Trump announces 25% tariffs on vehicle imports in fresh blow to Reeves
Donald Trump has announced 25 per cent tariffs on all motor vehicle imports to the United States, in a move that will inflict another blow on the UK economy.
During a press conference in the Oval Office, the US president announced that cars and light trucks imported into the US would be subject to the levy in the latest escalation of the Trump administration's far-reaching trade war.
'What we're going to be doing is a 25% tariff for all cars that are not made in the United States,' Trump said.
The announcement raises fears of greater economic pain in the UK, whose largest vehicle export market is the US, having exported £6.4bn in motor vehicles to the United States in 2023, according to the Office of National Statistics.
Athena Stavrou26 March 2025 22:37
Comment: Rachel Reeves's sticking-plaster solutions won't fix the economy
The hole in Rachel Reeves's spring statement was that she all but admitted she had failed to 'fix the foundations' – her big boast in the Budget just five months ago.
She had come to the Commons to announce policy changes because 'the world has changed'. But the whole point of fixing the foundations was to strengthen the public finances so that they could withstand unexpected pressures.
The chancellor was coy, in any case, about the way in which the world had changed. She mentioned Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, but that really got going three years ago. So she said vaguely that it had 'since escalated further', which is a strange way of saying that, in the past five months, Donald Trump has threatened to pull the plug on the Ukrainians.
The Independent 's chief political commentator John Rentoul writes:
Rachel Reeves's sticking-plaster solutions won't fix the economy
Tara Cobham26 March 2025 22:30
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