Rachel Reeves tells businesses no more tax rises as she defends budget at CBI conference

25 November 2024, 21:08 | Updated: 25 November 2024, 21:11

Rachel Reeves at the annual CBI conference
Rachel Reeves defending her budget at the annual CBI conference. Picture: Alamy

By Flaminia Luck

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she would not be coming back with more borrowing or taxes, as she defended her budget at the annual CBI conference.

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Asked if she could confirm there would be no more big tax rises on businesses, Rachel Reeves said: "I faced a problem, and I faced into it, and we have now drawn a line under the fiction peddled by the previous government.

"We've put our public finances back on a firm footing, and we've now set the budgets for public services for the duration of this Parliament.

"Public services now need to live within their means because I'm really clear, I'm not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes."

"We have now drawn a line under the inheritance that I faced. Public finances are now on a firm footing, and also our public services are funded in a proper way, and we've now set the envelope for those public services for the rest of this Parliament, which means we're not going to have to come back for more."

BRITAIN-ECONOMY-INDUSTRY
Reeves told business leaders she has heard a lot of "feedback" on her Budget but not many "alternatives" . Picture: Getty

She also told the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference: "I've heard a lot of feedback. What I haven't heard are many alternatives."

She said the "difficult decisions" have provided the "stability and the platform that we need to move forward."

"If I hadn't have made those difficult decisions, then we wouldn't have been able to bring the stability, back to the economy that is desperately needed."

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