Rachel Reeves: 'I will fight every day to put more money in people's pockets'
A year ago, Rishi Sunak called a snap general election. The country was in a dire state. Overcrowded prisons, strikes, soaring NHS waiting lists, crumbling schools, neglected high streets, and worst of all a cost of living crisis crippling households.
The country had endured fourteen years of stagnation, no growth, and no way out. The country wanted change. It has been ten months since we were elected to deliver that change. On day one I said my number one priority was to put more money in working people's pockets. I knew it wouldn't be easy. It would take time and hard work. I was honest about that.
The cost of living crisis is still weighing down on families. But because of the choices we have taken and the actions of this Government we are beginning to deliver on the promise of change.
At the start of the year, we had the fastest growing economy in the G7. Business investment was up 8% year on year. We have had four interest rate cuts, helping bring down the cost of mortgages and rent and helping businesses borrow to invest and grow. Retail sales have seen the biggest three-month rise in almost four years, and people are feeling more confident about their finances. But there's still more work to do.
Follow our Mirror Politics account on Bluesky here. And follow our Mirror Politics team here - Lizzy Buchan, Mikey Smith, Kevin Maguire, Sophie Huskisson, Dave Burke and Ashley Cowburn.
Be first to get the biggest bombshells and breaking news by joining our Politics WhatsApp group here. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you want to leave our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Or sign up here to the Mirror's Politics newsletter for all the best exclusives and opinions straight to your inbox.
And listen to our exciting new political podcast The Division Bell, hosted by the Mirror and the Express every Thursday.
As well as easing the pressure on mortgages and rent, we are relentlessly focused on bringing down other household costs. We have proposed to expand the £150 Warm Home Discount to almost 3 million more families this winter – taking the total to over six million. And it's why the Prime Minister and I have said we will restore the Winter Fuel Payments to more pensioners, when the economy allows us to, because it would be irresponsible to make promises that we can't pay for.
Today the news has also come from Ofgem that the average household will save £11 a month on their energy bills from July to September, easing the burden for millions of hardworking families in the months ahead.
My determination to make Britain better off doesn't stop there. As we promised, we have protected the pensions triple lock, increasing the State Pension so millions of pensioners will receive up to an additional £470 this year.
And we believe that a decent day's work deserves a decent day's pay, so we boosted the minimum wage by up to £1,400 a year for 3 million workers. We've supported those most in need, introducing a Fair Repayment Rate so those on the lowest incomes can keep around £420 more of their benefits each year.
We're rolling out free breakfast clubs saving working families up to £450 a year, freezing fuel duty to keep costs low for motorists, expanding eligibility for 30 hours funded childcare, we stepped in to save thousands of jobs at British Steel and secured three trade deals to protect even more jobs and deliver growth.
The promise to put more money in working people's pockets has driven every single decision I've made as Chancellor. I will fight every day to deliver on that promise, and to make Britain better off.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Philippine senators prepare to be jurors in Sara Duterte's impeachment trial
MANILA, June 10 (Reuters) - Philippine senators were preparing to be sworn in as jurors in Wednesday's impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, who faces a lifetime political ban if convicted of high crimes and betraying the public trust. The trial could be a pivotal moment in Philippine politics by not only making or breaking Duterte, but also carrying big implications for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his agenda for the remaining three years of his presidency and beyond. A likely contender to be the next president, Duterte, 47, was impeached in February by the lower house of Congress. She denies all the accusations, from budget anomalies to amassing unusual wealth and threatening the lives of Marcos, his wife, and the house speaker. "We stand ready to confront the charges and expose the baselessness of the accusations," her office said in a statement on Tuesday. The speaker of the Senate will be the presiding officer at her trial, with its other 22 members as jurors. A two-thirds majority is required to convict Duterte, which would kill off her hopes of running for president in 2028. The trial of the popular daughter of firebrand former President Rodrigo Duterte follows an acrimonious falling-out with former ally Marcos, who ran on a joint ticket that won the 2022 election in a landslide. Marcos is limited to a single term in office and is expected to try to retain future influence by grooming a successor capable of fending off Duterte in the next election if she is acquitted. The president has distanced himself from the impeachment process, even though it was launched by his legislative allies. The trial comes after a stronger-than-expected showing for Duterte's allies in last month's midterm elections. That demonstrated her enduring influence, despite the battle with Marcos and the arrest and handover to the International Criminal Court of her father in March over thousands of killings in a "war on drugs" he waged as president from 2016 to 2022. Sara Duterte is the fifth top official in the Philippines to be impeached, only one of whom, Renato Corona, a former chief justice of the supreme court, was convicted. The trial of former President Joseph Estrada was aborted in 2001 after some prosecutors walked out, while the resignations of two officials, an election commission chairman and an ombudsman, followed their impeachments. The start of Duterte's trial comes just three days after the end of the final session of the current Senate, with 12 new members set to join when the chamber next gathers in July. Duterte had asked the Supreme Court to nullify the impeachment complaint against her as being politically motivated. The court ordered Congress to respond. "The impeachment process must never be weaponised to harass, silence, or eliminate political opponents," her office said in Tuesday's statement. "It is a constitutional mechanism, not a political tool."
Times
2 hours ago
- Times
Reeves forced into U-turn over pensioner fuel payments
The U-turn, when it came, was even bigger than expected. Rachel Reeves decided to clear the decks before the spending review by announcing that nine million pensioners would receive winter fuel payments this winter. It was a move born of political necessity and that has little fiscal logic. When the chancellor announced that she was stripping ten million pensioners of the winter fuel allowance next year, she argued that it was fundamental to restoring economic stability. 'This is not a decision I wanted to make,' she said. 'Nor is it one that I expected to make. But these are the necessary and urgent decisions I must make. It is the responsible thing to do to fix the foundations of our economy and bring back economic stability.' On Tuesday, economists point out that the fiscal circumstances are, if anything, significantly worse. The reversal means that a policy intended to save £1.5 billion will now save only £50 million this year, at the expense of huge reserves of public goodwill and political capital. It will only add to pressure on the already ailing public finances. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the decision meant there would have to be tax rises or more cuts to welfare in the autumn budget. 'To suggest the fiscal situation has got a lot better flies in the face of reality,' he said. 'If they are saying this means there will not be any additional borrowing then it follows, as sure as night follows day, that this will mean they will need to raise the equivalent of an additional amount of tax.' It also means that Reeves has crossed another line. She had insisted that she would never make an unfunded spending pledge, arguing that to do so would be 'desperate and reckless'. That is exactly what she has now done, and the detail of how the about-turn will be paid for will be confirmed in the autumn budget. After the announcement on Monday, Reeves found herself trying to argue that she had been right in scrapping the universal payments in the first place while simultaneously trying to justify the change in position. It was not an easy circle to square. The decision was the result of a recognition in both No 10 and No 11 that cutting the allowance had been a mistake, although Reeves would not acknowledge that on Monday. During the local elections in May, Labour activists found the issue of winter fuel coming up again and again on the doorstep. Polling found that the decision was one of the main reasons voters deserted the party, whether they moved to Reform UK or to the Greens. • What to expect in Rachel Reeves's spend, spend, spending review Discussion about a reversal began in No 10 almost immediately, but was denied for weeks by the government. By the time Sir Keir Starmer was confronted over the 'toxic' policy by a succession of angry MPs at a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party three weeks ago, it was clear that the position was beginning to shift. However, concern that there was a lack of detail about what would replace the previous policy quickly made clear that the government could not wait long before setting out a replacement. Ministers were determined to introduce a means test to avoid paying 'a few hundred pounds to millionaires', and officials struggled to graft one on to ageing computer systems in the Department for Work and Pensions. Eventually, it became clear that HM Revenue & Customs would have to be used, clawing payments back from wealthier pensioners through the tax system. This meant that a wish to base payments on household incomes had to be abandoned, as the system assesses only individual incomes. Ministers picked a relatively high income, covering three quarters of pensioners, to make sure that no older people in poverty would lose out even at the cost of hundreds of millions of pounds. Theoretically, this means that the pensioner partner of a millionaire will receive a winter fuel payment of £100 if they have an income below £35,000 themselves, but ministers decided that this was a price worth paying for a rapid solution. For ministers who have spent months defending hugely unpopular cuts, there has been frustration about how much political capital was wasted for such tiny sums of money. • Rachel Reeves's winter fuel cut reversal is a sign of desperation Much of the blame is being pinned on Reeves. It was she who chose to press ahead with a cut long recommended by Treasury advisers but rejected as politically toxic by a succession of previous chancellors. Starmer nodded the decision through, however, despite the clear risk of a severe political backlash. He is said to have been surprised by the scale of the reaction. Ministers will be hoping that the turnaround is enough to quell public anger, which led Labour to slump in the polls. Sharon Graham, head of the Unite union, one of Labour's biggest donors, put it bluntly. 'While this is an important step forward, questions will be asked about how this disastrous decision was made in the first place — the damage may not easily be reversed,' she said. 'Leadership is about choices and the choice to pit workers against pensioners was simply wrong.'
Daily Record
2 hours ago
- Daily Record
New calls to scrap proposed PIP reforms after U-turn on Winter Fuel Payments
Nearly 3.7 million people on PIP will see changes to the disability benefit start from November next year. Labour backbenchers have called for a UK Government U-turn on planned disability benefit reforms, after Chancellor Rachel Reeves restored Winter Fuel Payments to the majority of pensioners in England and Wales. Proposed changes to Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are set to come into force from November next year. Ms Reeves' £1.25 billion plan unveiled on Monday will see automatic payments worth up to £300 given to pensioners with an income less than £35,000 a year. The U-turn will see an estimated 9 million people born before September 22, 1959 receive the one-off payment this winter. Shortly after winning the general election in July, the Labour Government announced its decision to remove the universality of Winter Fuel Payments and only issue the money to those on means-tested benefits, such as Pension Credit. Nadia Whittome, the Labour MP for Nottingham East, warned ministers they risked making a 'similar mistake' if they tighten the eligibility criteria for PIP. Leeds East MP Richard Burgon called on pensions minister Torsten Bell to 'listen now' so that backbenchers can help the UK Government 'get it right'. In her warning, Ms Whittome said she was not asking Mr Bell 'to keep the status quo or not to support people into work' and added: 'I'm simply asking him not to cut disabled people's benefits.' The Pensions Minister, who works in both the Treasury and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), replied that the numbers of people receiving PIP is set to 'continue to grow every single year in the years ahead, after the changes set out by this Government'. In its Pathways to Work Green Paper, the UK Government proposed a new eligibility requirement, so PIP claimants must score a minimum of four points on one daily living activity, such as preparing food, washing and bathing, using the toilet or reading, to receive the daily living element of the benefit. The Green Paper states: 'This means that people who only score the lowest points on each of the PIP daily living activities will lose their entitlement in future.' Mr Burgon told the Commons: 'As a Labour MP who voted against the Winter Fuel Payment cuts, I very much welcome this change in position, but can I urge the minister and the Government to learn the lessons of this and one of the lessons is, listen to backbenchers? 'If the minister and the Government listen to backbenchers, that can help the Government get it right, help the Government avoid getting it wrong, and so what we don't want is to be here in a year or two's time with a minister sent to the despatch box after not listening to backbenchers on disability benefit cuts, making another U-turn again.' Mr Bell replied that it was 'important to listen to backbenchers, to frontbenchers'. Opposition MPs cheered when the minister added: 'It's even important to listen to members opposite on occasion.' Liberal Democrat MP Mike Martin warned that 'judging by the questions from his own backbenchers, it seems that we're going to have further U-turns on PIP and on the two-child benefit cap'. The Tunbridge Wells MP asked Mr Bell: 'To save his colleagues anguish, will he let us know now when those U-turns are coming?' The minister replied: 'What Labour MPs want to see is a Labour Government bringing down child poverty, and that's what we're going to do 'What Labour MPs want to see is a Government that can take the responsible decisions, including difficult ones on tax and on means testing the winter fuel payment so that we can invest in public services and turn around the disgrace that has become Britain's public realm for far too long.' On Monday, Rachel Reeves said the UK Government would 'crack on' with reforms to PIP. Asked whether there would be more U-turns on PIP or the Child Benefit cap, the Chancellor told Channel 4 News: 'There are 9 million people of working age who are economically inactive. We need to reduce that number. 'We need to provide much better support for people who are sick and disabled to help them back into work. 'These are important reforms that we are going to crack on with, because we need to ensure that as a government we support people to do fulfilling work to help lift families out of poverty and give everybody who can work the dignity of a secure job paying a decent wage.' There are currently 3.7m people across Great Britain in claim for PIP, however, the UK Government expects that figure to rise to 4m by the end of the decade and has proposed a raft of new measures to make the benefit sustainable for future generations. Proposed PIP changes and online consultation Proposed package of reforms to overhaul the welfare system, include: Ending reassessments for disabled people who will never be able to work and people with lifelong conditions to ensure they can live with dignity and security. Scrapping the Work Capability Assessment to end the process that drives people into dependency, delivering on the UK Government's manifesto commitment to reform or replace it. Providing improved employment support backed by £1 billion including new tailored support conversations for people on health and disability benefits to break down barriers and unlock work. Legislating to protect those on health and disability benefits from reassessment or losing their payments if they take a chance on work. To ensure the welfare system is available for those with the greatest needs now and in the future, the UK Government has made decisions to improve its sustainability and protect those who need it most. These include: Reintroducing reassessments for people on incapacity benefits who have the capability to work to ensure they have the right support and are not written off. Targeting PIP for those with higher needs by changing the eligibility requirement to a minimum score of four on at least one of the daily living activities to receive the daily living element of the benefit, in addition to the existing eligibility criteria. Rebalancing payment levels in Universal Credit to improve the Standard Allowance. Consulting on delaying access to the health element of Universal Credit until someone is aged 22 and reinvesting savings into work support and training opportunities through the Youth Guarantee. DWP also launched an online consultation on the new proposals to coincide with the publication of the Green paper. The consultation can be completed by anyone and is open until June 30, 2025 - you can find full details on here. It's important to be aware that the proposed reforms announced by the DWP will not directly affect disability claimants in Scotland currently claiming devolved health-related benefits - unless funding for the Scottish Government is impacted by planned changes by Westminster.
