Rachel Reeves Blames Brexit As She Prepares To Raise Taxes And Cut Spending

Rachel Reeves has some difficult decisions to take before the Budget.Rachel Reeves has blamed the impact of Brexit as she prepares to increase taxes and slash public spending in next month’s Budget.The chancellor said the economic consequences of leaving the European Union were “severe and long lasting”.Her comments are the harshest criticism of the UK’s decision to quit the EU in the 2016 referendum by a Labour minister.It indicates that she plans to pin the blame on Reform UK leader and enthusiastic Brexit backer Nigel Farage for Britain’s economic woes. Reeves also said the last Tory government’s austerity programme, as well as Liz Truss’s mini-Budget, had contributed to the £30 billion black hole she needs to fill.Speaking to Sky News, she said: “Already, people thought that the UK economy would be 4% smaller because of Brexit. Now, of course, we are undoing some of that damage by the deal that we did with the EU earlier this year on food and farming, goods moving between us and the continent, on energy and electricity trading, on an ambitious youth mobility scheme.“But there is no doubting that the impact of Brexit is severe and long lasting and that’s why we are trying to do trade deals around the world, US, India, but most importantly with the EU so that our exporters here in Britain have a chance to sell things made here all around the world.”Reeves also gave her clearest hint yet that taxes will rise and public spending will be cut in the Budget on November 26.She said she would “always make sure that the numbers add up”, while acknowledging that there is still a huge gap between what the government spends and what it raises in tax.“Of course, we’re looking at tax and spending as well, but the numbers will always add up with me as chancellor because we saw just three years ago, what happens when a government, where the Conservatives lost control of the public finances, inflation and interest rates went through the roof,” the chancellor said.She added: “The British people know that there are difficult decisions, but I will make those in the right interests of our country.”Sir Nick Harvey, chief executive of European Movement UK, said: “Rachel Reeves’s comments before her upcoming Budget suggest we may be heading towards striking a new honesty in British politics, one where Labour big beasts like Reeves, Starmer and Streeting no longer shy away from the truth of the damage that leaving the EU has done to the British economy.“It’s been clear for years just how extreme that damage is. Tens of billions wiped off the UK economy every single year, whilst the fiscal black hole continues to grow. After years of evasion, policymakers are speaking candidly about the deep and lasting damage Brexit has done to trade, productivity and business investment.”He added: “The government must continue to pull down the walls that have blocked politicians from being honest about the damage Brexit has done to the UK economy, and take every practical step possible to undo that damage.“Red lines or not, access to the single market would begin to rapidly repair the ongoing pain our economy is experiencing.”Related...Migration Expert Reveals How Brexit Has Made The Small Boats Crisis WorseEmmanuel Macron Blames Brexiteers For Small Boats Crisis After Striking Migrant Deal With StarmerNigel Farage Gets Schooled By Keir Starmer As He Tries To Stir The Brexit Pot

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