Rachel Reeves will deliver the annual Spring Statement to MPs today – and is expected to announce deep spending cuts to public services.
The Chancellor will deliver her speech to the Commons around 12.30pm – shortly after PMQs – to update on the state of the nation’s finances. Ahead of her speech, she pointed to money poured into capital spending and the NHS, saying the Government’s actions were a “far cry” from those of their Conservative predecessors.
At the same time, she said Labour was looking to cut back the Civil Service, which she said had swelled during the Covid-19 pandemic, by slashing its “back office functions, the administrative and bureaucracy functions” by the end of this parliament.
It comes after a backlash, including in the party’s own ranks, to cuts to welfare spending and a decision to slash the aid budget to fund a boost to the UK’s defence spending.
Ms Reeves said she would not pre-empt the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast she will be responding to. “But the world has changed,” the Chancellor told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips. “We can all see that before our eyes and governments are not inactive in that – we’ll respond to the change and continue to meet our fiscal rules.”
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