Reeves promised to end the freeze on income tax thresholds sooner than expected, maintained the freeze on fuel duty, and cut the duty on a pint of beer by a penny.
As she explained in remarks to her party after the speech, these measures aimed to “take the fight to the Tories” because “if they disagree with our taxes on the wealthiest or on business, they will not be able to protect the incomes of working people.”
While Labour MPs remain overwhelmingly united behind the chancellor, some grumbles nonetheless began to circulate in Westminster at what they saw as a lack of insight into how certain measures would go down with voters — a blind spot sometimes referred to as “Treasury brain.”
One MP in a northern seat said an increase in bus fares was “already going down like a cup of cold sick” in their constituency, while another long-serving MP worried about the absence of any policies aimed directly at tackling poverty.
More broadly, the budget suggested just how hard the road ahead is for Starmer and Reeves. With no quick fixes and few goodies, they will now hope voters can trust in better times to come.
Glen O’Hara, professor of politics at Oxford Brookes University, said this budget was “an even bigger challenge” than the first Blair and Brown budget because “they hadn’t had this early unpopularity,” and because “public services are, if anything, in a worse state.”
