Reeves says spending review will be about ‘making working people better off'

Independent

21 hours ago

Rachel Reeves has acknowledged that not enough people are feeling the progress Labour has made and said her spending review will be about 'making working people better off'.
The Chancellor is expected to announce funding increases for the NHS, schools and defence along with a number of infrastructure projects on Wednesday, as she shares out some £113 billion freed up by looser borrowing rules.
But other areas could face cuts as she seeks to balance manifesto commitments with more recent pledges, such as a hike in defence spending, while meeting her fiscal rules that promise to match day-to-day spending with revenues.
Sir Keir Starmer meanwhile rejected the idea that squeezed police budgets could make communities less safe.
The Prime Minister also said that the decision to reinstate most winter fuel payments was not a response to the backlash against the policy.
The Chancellor has committed £16.7 billion to nuclear power projects, including £14.2 billion of investment to build the new Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk.
Ms Reeves said the Government was 'making Labour choices' and 'making progress' in an address to the GMB Union Congress in Brighton on Tuesday.
She said: 'I know that not enough working people are yet feeling that progress, and that's what tomorrow's spending review is all about – making working people better off, investing in our security, investing in our health, investing in our economy.
'This Government is going for growth because that is the best way to create jobs, boost wages, lift people out of poverty, and sustainably fund our schools and our hospitals and all the public services we rely on.
'And we're doing things differently, because unlike the Tories, I don't think that the only good thing that a government can do is get out of the way.'
Sir Keir was asked about reports that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was among those concerned that the financial settlement for police in the spending review could lead to crimes not being investigated.
'No, we will be more safe,' he told GB News.
The Prime Minister also rejected the idea that he had reversed course on winter fuel payments amid political pressure.
'We had to take difficult decisions in the budget; the economy was broken,' he told Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2.
But he cited recent growth figures and falling interest rates as proof that 'the economy has stabilised'.
Ms Reeves is under pressure to reverse course on cuts to benefits after she confirmed a U-turn on winter fuel payments that will see them restored to pensioners with an income of less than £35,000-a-year.
She stood firm on welfare reforms on Tuesday as a union representative urged her to 'think again' on the cuts.
The Chancellor said the current system is 'not sustainable' and that reforms aimed to get those who can work back into work and help 'fulfil the ambitions of people with disabilities themselves to get back into work'.
The reforms include plans to tighten the eligibility criteria for personal independence payments, known as Pip.