Reeves says 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.
She 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.
Rachel Reeves revealed on Monday that pensioners earning up to £35,000 would continue to receive the winter fuel payment (PA)
She 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.'
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.
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