Rachel Reeves was grilled by Sky News’ Beth Rigby on her Budget that has already seen fierce backlash for raising taxes by £40bn.
Today’s Budget set out a series of hikes, including an increase in the amount of national insurance employers pay, and the lower and higher rates Capital Gains Tax.
Rigby suggested that the economic plan had “cheated” the public, who voted in Labour on the promise of no tax increases for working people.
She questioned: “Can you honestly say you have a democratic mandate for the measures you have announced today? Tens of billions of pounds in increased spending and tens of billions of pounds in tax rises.”
Reeves maintained that Labour’s main aim is to “return stability to our economy”, which she called “the most important thing I had to do as Chancellor”, and insisted her party does have a “democratic mandate” for the Budget.
However, Rigby quickly interjected: “I think there’ll …