PM and Chancellor ‘used our money to save their jobs’ in Budget, Kemi Badenoch tells LBC

The Leader of the Opposition told LBC's Iain Dale during a phone in that she thinks it is acceptable to criticise Ms Reeves personally because of her perceived motivation for Budget tax rises.

After Mrs Badenoch made an allusion to Ms Reeves crying in the Chamber earlier this year during her response to the Budget, a caller criticised the Tory leader for doing so.

Mrs Badenoch said: "I said she sat at the dispatch box as the realisation dawned that her backbenchers were going to do to her what she was doing to our economy. And that's right.

"What we saw with this Budget is Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer trying to bribe their backbenchers so they don't get rid of them. That is terrible. That's our money they're using to save their jobs. That's wrong."

Read More: Reeves launches £26 billion tax raid as welfare spending rises

Read More: Reeves and Starmer don't care about the longer term, they're just fighting to save their jobs, writes Andrew Marr

The comments which the caller took issue with were uttered in the Commons shortly after Ms Reeves' speech.

Mrs Badenoch told the Chamber: "It has not been an easy time for the Chancellor. No one liked seeing her sitting on the Government benches as it dawned on her that her own backbenchers were going to do to her political career what she has done to our economy."

The Tory leader also came in for criticism after she accused Ms Reeves of "whining" about misogyny and "wallowing in self-pity".

In the Commons responding to Wednesday's Budget, Mrs Badenoch said "people are not complaining because she is female, they are complaining because she is utterly incompetent”.

“Real equality means being held to the same standards as everyone else, being judged on results. She says she wants people to respect her: respect is earned,” Ms Badenoch said.

As part of the Budget, it has been forecast that around a quarter of Britain’s working population will be paying higher or additional rate tax by 2030-32.

Workers, homeowners mainly in the South East, pension savers, and people who save carefully into ISAs will all have the Chancellor’s fingers in their pocket.

More workers will be dragged into higher tax bands, after the Chancellor extended the deep freeze on thresholds by a further three years to 2031.

Saving your pay efficiently into pensions will also be taxed. The overhaul – enforced from 2029 – will result in any pre-tax contributions above £2,000 incurring National Insurance charges from both the employee and employer. Currently, there is no limit.

A “mansion tax” targeting England’s most expensive homes valued at more than £2m will come into force from 2028. It will mean an additional tax bill for these households of around £5,000.

The amount that people can deposit tax free into a cash Isa each year has been slashed from£20,000 to £12,000.

Over 65s will however retain the full allowance.

Under 65s will be encouraged to put the remaining £8,000 of their allowance into a stocks and shares Isa.

Electric car drivers will also be targeted, a pay-per-mile pricing scheme will be introduced for electric car drivers from 2028. The 3p tariff – added to car tax bills based on predicted annual mileage – will add around £255 in costs for the average driver covering 8,500 miles.

Ms Reeves also confirmed the two-child benefit cap will be lifted.

Reversals to the government's previously announced cuts to winter fuel payments and health-related benefits will cost £7bn in 2029-30, according to the OBR.

Along with the removal of the two-child benefit cap - costing £3bn by 2029-30 - the OBR estimates this will increase benefits for 560,000 families by an average of £5,310.

Today's Budget announcement was plunged into chaos after the Treasury watchdog accidentally published the details before the Chancellor stood up.

In a shambolic error, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) leaked its assessment of Ms Reeves's fiscal plans 30 minutes before she was due to unveil them in the House of Commons.

The documents, which were revealed just minutes after Ms Reeves brandished her red box outside 11 Downing Street, showed that tax is due to rise by £26 billion, with thresholds frozen for another three years.