Chancellor Rachel Reeves has denied that the announcements made in her Spring Statement on Wednesday amounted to ‘austerity 2.0’ in an interview with ITV News.”This is a far cry from what we saw in the Conservative years,” Reeves said in an interview with ITV News Westminster Reporter Lewis Denison.Reeves reiterated that Labour had put £190 billion into day-to-day government spending, saying that money is going towards “teachers in our schools, the appointments in our National Health Service, the police, [and] the armed forces” as well as an additional £100 billion into capital spending.”The austerity period, particularly 2010 to 2015, when Cameron and Osborne were prime minister and chancellor, there were cuts every year in spending, and there were cuts to capital spending as well.So we’re increasing spending in every year now,” she added.She also ruled out the idea of bringing back national service to help bolster defence, saying: “I’m not in favour of national service but there are vacancies in our armed forces and we need to recruit more people.”Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News.Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.
When questioned about allowing tuition fees to increase and the knock-on effect for young people, she said that fees had to go up to align with inflation.”Governments have to make difficult decisions based on the circumstances that we inherited.And I think it is right to make sure the universities are on a firm footing,” she said.”I’m not willing to write off an entire generation of young people.We want young people either in education, getting training or in paid employment,” she added.
The Chancellor also shared her favourite Sabrina Carpenter song, following backlash over her receiving free tickets to see the singer at the O2 arena.”I think it probably will come as no surprise that it was another family member of mine who was more of the Sabrina Carpenter fan …[but] I did enjoy the songs, so Please, Please, Please.”She justified having had a box at the arena by explaining that her position means she needs more security than the average parent.”[Sabrina Carpenter is] great, but I am a 46-year-old woman.And in the job that I’m doing now, it is harder to do some of those normal everyday [things].”From Westminster to Washington DC – our political experts are across all the latest key talking points.
Listen to the latest episode below…What was in the Spring Statement? The Chancellor extended her cuts to welfare in her Spring Statement on Wednesday.The half-hour statement included the revelation the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has downgraded the growth forecast for this from 2% down to 1%, as well as announcements on benefits, spending, defence and housebuilding.The OBR also said that cuts announced last week would only amount to £3.4 billion in savings – short of the £5 billion initially hoped for by the government.Benefits The government had already announced huge cuts to the benefits system, but on Wednesday Reeves announced a freeze on the health element of universal credit for new claimants until 2030, up from the initial cut of 50%.She also announced the universal credit standard allowance will increase from £92 per week in 2025-26, to £106 per week by 2029-30.ITV News Deputy Political Editor Anushka Asthana runs through what was in the Spring Statement Spending cuts Government departments will have their budgets tightened, with day-to-day spending to be slashed by £6.1 billion in 2029-30 compared to previous expectations.The OBR said there will be “significant pressures on unprotected departments, whose day-to-day budgets may need to be cut by 0.8% a year in real terms from 2026-27 to accommodate assumed commitments in other areas.” Defence Reeves announced an additional £2.2 billion-worth of funding for defence.It follows Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s commitment last month to increase defence spending to 2.5% of national income by 2030, paid for by a controversial cut in overseas aid funding.Tax avoidance The Chancellor also said she would be cracking down on people who avoid tax.She promised investment in technology will allow the number of fraudsters charged every year to rise by 20%, which she said would raise £1 billion.Housebuilding Reeves announced that planning reforms and other growth policies would generate an extra £3.4 billion “to support our public finances and our public services” by 2029-30.She said the OBR believes housebuilding will rise to it highest rate in 40 years as a result of the government’s reforms to planning, helping them to move towards their target of building 1.5 million new homes by 2030.Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know….
