“I made the choices necessary to fix the foundations of our economy,” Reeves said, after national insurance contributions were increased for employers earlier this year.
Reeves, whose ruling Labour Party is under electoral pressure from Nigel Farage’s insurgent rightwing Reform UK, also confirmed she would end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the next general election, due in 2029. Funding will “cut the asylum backlog, hear more appeal cases and return people who have no right to be here, saving the taxpayer £1 billion a year,” she added.
Reeves also used her House of Commons platform to attack Farage, claiming he was “itching to do the same thing all over again” after he praised former Tory Prime Minister Liz Truss’ calamitous mini-budget in 2022, which triggered market chaos.
Labour has pledged to not increase income tax, VAT or national insurance at the last election. However, the Conservatives argue the government will have to raise taxes further to fund its promises.
Reeves also made public safety a center point of the funding allocation. She said police spending power would rise by an average 2.3 percent per year in real terms “to protect our people, our homes and our streets.”
More than £280 million more would also be allocated for the Border Security Command aiming to end people smuggling gangs transporting people in small boats across the English Channel.
