Rachel Reeves has admitted that she “winces” when she looks at her bank account as she said that her “instinct” was to cut taxes for working people.
The shadow Chancellor also criticised the chairman of Natwest Bank after he suggested it was not that hard to get on the housing ladder, and said current levels of migration into the UK were not acceptable.
Speaking to GB News in Wellingborough on a campaigning visit ahead of the expected by-election there next month, Reeves said she is alarmed at the toll on her family finances.
Asked by GB News if her tax bill makes her “wince”, she replied: “What makes me wince is when I look at my bank statement and I find that the money coming in is increasingly short of the money going out, whether it's the mortgage or the gas and electricity bills, the weekly shop.
Rachel Reeves admits she ‘winces’ when looking at her bank account
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“All the money that all of us spend over Christmas is putting a huge toll on family finances and I think very few people are not feeling the effects of that.”
A Labour Government is determined to grow the economy and to ensure that people have more of their own money in their pockets.
“And after 14 years of an economy that has flatlined 25 Tory tax rises, and public services that are on their knees, it's time for change in Britain.”
Asked if she wanted to cut taxes, she said: “My instinct is that taxes on working people should be lower than they are today.
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GB News was told that spending over Christmas put a huge toll on Reeves’ family finances
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“We've had 25 Tory tax rises in this Parliament and this year an average working family is going to be paying £1,200 more in tax. That doesn't sit comfortably with me.”
She continued: “I would like taxes on working people to be lower. But this is one thing I'm not going to do, I'm not going to make any unfunded commitments to reduce tax because that's what Liz Truss and the Conservatives did just over a year ago and that ended up pushing up mortgage rates, which meant that working people are worse off, not better off as a result.”
Earlier Sir Howard Davies, the NatWest chairman, had claimed it is not “that difficult” for first time buyers to get on the housing ladder.
Sir Howard told the BBC: “I don’t think it’s that difficult at the moment. You have to save, and that’s the way it always used to be.”
Sir Howard Davies is the chair of NatWest PABranding Sir Howard “out of touch”, Reeves told GB News: “I don't think those comments are in tune with the reality faced by millions of people in Britain.
“There are many people who do own their own home but are struggling with the higher mortgage costs. And there are many people who are struggling to get on the housing ladder because of higher interest rates, which were brought about because of Liz Truss and the Conservative Party's management of the economy.
“So, I know that many, many people will find those remarks quite out of touch with the situation that they and their family face.”
Asked if he should say sorry, she added: “Well, look, those are not comments that I would have made and then certainly not in tune, I think, with the vast majority of people in the country.”
Asked what she thought would an acceptable level of net migration into the UK, Reeves said: “I don't think that the current levels are acceptable, and the Government needs to do more to be training up people who are working here in Britain already.
“We need to crack down on the criminal gangs that are responsible for those Channel crossings. I'm not going to put arbitrary numbers on it, but we need to bring those levels down.”
