Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has been clear that Labour will stick to the same fiscal rules as the Tories if elected, and also that they don’t want to raise taxes. Laura Kuenssberg asked Reeves to confirm that this might mean Labour would be forced to make cuts to some public services. Reeves said that the finances a Labour government will inherit would be ‘the worst since the second world war’, but would not confirm that Labour would make spending cuts. She promised an ‘initial injection of cash’ into public services, and said Labour would do a spending review quickly if elected.
Health Secretary defends government’s new interpretation of extremism
Communities Secretary Michael Gove will outlaw individuals and groups who ‘undermine the UK’s system of liberal democracy’ this week, as part of a new expanded definition of extremism. On Sky News this morning, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins defended the new policy, telling Trevor Phillips that we should not allow views contrary to the UK’s values to ‘percolate through society’. Trevor Phillips questioned whether the new approach might impinge on the country’s commitment to free speech. Atkins agreed that there needed to be a balance between ‘freedom of speech but also the right of citizens to go about their daily lives.’
Chef Fearnley-Whittingstall: nothing is being done to tackle the obesity crisis
When questioned by Kuenssberg on the continuing struggles of the NHS, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins placed an emphasis on increasing productivity in the service. Sitting on Kuenssberg’s panel, chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall pointed out that obesity is the leading factor in poor health, and constitutes ‘the single biggest cost to the NHS’. He claimed that many agencies such as the Food Foundation have suggested policies the government could adopt to reduce obesity, and the government hasn’t acted on any of them. Atkins said she would be setting out a prevention strategy, and defended the government’s action in other areas, such as creating a smoke free generation by gradually banning tobacco.
Reeves: ‘everything in our manifesto will be fully funded’
Laura Kuenssberg pointed out to Rachel Reeves that after the government adopted Labour’s plan to abolish the ‘non-dom’ tax status, there is a £2 billion hole in Labour’s plans to pay for breakfast clubs in schools, and create extra appointments in the NHS. Reeves repeated her comments from last week that it was ‘utterly humiliating’ for the government to have taken this long to close the ‘non-dom’ tax loophole, but she wouldn’t say where she would find the money that had been lost from her plans. Reeves said she was going through government documents to ‘identify the funding stream’. Kuenssberg suggested that although Starmer was asking for a May election, Labour were not ready for government yet. Reeves said that people would want to know that she was doing her job carefully, and not ‘plucking numbers out of the air’.
Director of the IFS: big cuts are coming post-election
Finally, Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, told Trevor Phillips that the baseline numbers being used in both Labour and Conservative plans implied substantial cuts to public services. Johnson said neither Reeves nor Hunt wanted to admit the necessity of making cuts, raising taxes, or borrowing more.
Comments