Rachel Reeves admits she was wrong to rule out tax rises

Shadow chancellor says she ‘would not make the same commitment’ again after admitting £30bn hole in Labour’s spending plans

Reeves told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme that she had been wrong to say ‘categorically’ that there would be no tax rises under a Labour government

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has admitted that she was wrong to rule out tax rises, after admitting that there is a £30bn hole in Labour’s spending plans.

Reeves told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme that she had been wrong to say “categorically” that there would be no tax rises under a Labour government.

She said: “I wouldn’t make the same commitment again. I think it was the wrong thing to do. I think it was a mistake.”

Reeves’s admission comes after the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that Labour’s spending plans would lead to a £30bn black hole in the public finances by 2024-25.

The IFS said that Labour’s plans would require either tax rises or spending cuts of £30bn a year by 2024-25.

Reeves said that she was “not going to make any commitments” on tax rises or spending cuts at this stage.

She said: “We’re going to set out our plans in more detail in the run-up to the next election. But I’m not going to make any commitments now.”

Reeves’s admission is a significant shift in Labour’s position on tax rises.

In the run-up to the 2019 general election, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn pledged to not raise taxes on incomes below £80,000.

However, Reeves’s admission suggests that Labour is now prepared to consider tax rises as part of its plans to fund public services.