Reeves calls for unity and support from Labour MPs ahead of Budget

Rachel Reeves has urged Labour MPs to support Wednesday’s Budget, which is widely expected to see tax hikes introduced.

The Chancellor called for unity from her party as she spoke in front of restive backbenchers ahead of the Budget, and insisted she was proud of her forthcoming statement.

Ms Reeves has long suggested she will have to hike taxes to fill a black hole in the public finances, and is now facing the prospect of a downgrade in the Budget watchdog’s economic growth forecast for every year of this Parliament.

Labour backbenches are said to have become increasingly frustrated about the planned tax hikes, which come as the party’s opinion poll ratings have dropped significantly.

Speaking before the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) on Monday night, the Chancellor could be heard to tell backbenchers politics is a “team sport” as she called for their support.

Ms Reeves could also be heard suggesting that the Budget was a package, not a “pick ‘n’ mix” where MPs could say they liked the “cola bottles” but disliked the “fruit salad”.

She insisted it was a Labour Budget, a progressive Budget and that she was proud of it.

The Budget will focus on three priorities, the Chancellor also told MPs: “Cutting the cost of living, cutting NHS waiting lists and cutting the cost of debt.”

Ms Reeves concluded her speech to Labour MPs by saying: “On Wednesday, this will be a fair Budget. It will be a Budget that delivers strong foundations, secures our future and delivers on our promise of change.”

The Chancellor at one point appeared to suggest there would be surprises at the Budget, when she urged MPs to stay to the end of her statement to the Commons.

But a Treasury spokesman later denied this and said the era of “rabbits out of a hat” is “over”.

Asked why Ms Reeves felt the need to remind MPs politics is a team sport, the spokesman told reporters: “Because united parties are the ones who win elections.”

The Chancellor had earlier been warned not to inflict “death by a thousand taxes” on British business in Wednesday’s Budget.

The head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Rain Newton-Smith said the Government must “change course” and avoid heaping more costs on firms.

She urged Ms Reeves to stand up to Labour’s backbenchers to take tough decisions on issues such as cutting welfare spending, as she spoke at the CBI’s conference on Monday.

The scale of the task facing the Chancellor was underlined by a Sky News report that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has downgraded its forecast for 2026 and every other year before the next election due in 2029.

Ms Reeves has already acknowledged publicly that growth forecasts will be hit due to the OBR’s revision of its assumptions about productivity.

The downgrade, and the subsequent reduction in tax revenues, will force the Chancellor to hike taxes to balance the books and build a bigger buffer against future shocks than the historically-low level of headroom she has previously given herself.

In her search for extra taxes, Ms Reeves could hit more than 100,000 high-value properties with a levy that applies to those worth more than £2 million and could raise £400-£450 million, The Times reported.

Some 2.4 million properties in the top three council tax bands would be revalued to determine which would be subject to the surcharge.

The Chancellor is also widely expected to extend the freeze on income tax thresholds, potentially dragging around 1.75 million people into paying more to the Exchequer.