Reeves urges Labour MPs to unite behind the Budget

Rachel Reeves has pleaded with Labour MPs to unite behind her Budget, having promised to keep as chancellors in the years to come. Reeves cautioned MPs that if they wanted to win the next election, they must stick together during a meeting of Labour's Parliamentary Party on Monday evening. Following weeks of rumors, the Budget, which is expected to include tax increases, will be published on Wednesday. Reeves said she thinks Labour MPs would like 90-95% of her spending plan, but that they would have to accept the tougher steps as well: "It's a bundle, not a pick-and-mix. You can't say that you like the cola bottles, but you don't like the fruit salad.

It all comes together and hangs together as a whole.

She said her three top priorities would be cutting the cost of living, lowering NHS waiting lists, and lowering the cost on debt. One Labour MP said the chancellor had beenstrong and transparent,

one Labour MP told the meeting, but another said she had sounded

desperate. Despite Reeves' call for unity, three Labour MPs turned up on Tuesday morning to a protest, which Green Party leader Zack Polanski joined, urging the chancellor to consider implementing a wealth tax. When asked why he was attending a protest with the leader of an opposition party, Neil Duncan Jordan said,

this is about a problem, not about what people are wearing.

Our belief is that we should be taxing those with the longest shoulders – they should be carrying the most heavy load.

Labour MPs have been increasingly critical of Reeves' decision in the year after the last budget. On certain measures, including the removal of the winter fuel tax, the chancellor was obliged to make U-turns. There had also been questions within the party over reports that she might use this Budget to raise income tax rates, a development that would have violated the party's election manifesto pledge. The government now seems to have stepped back from that plan. Rather, it may be worth considering extending the freeze on the income tax and national insurance levels, which means that more people are being drawn into paying more tax on their paychecks and pensions as time goes on. In addition, the chancellor may consider a number of smaller steps to raise funds, such as new taxes on high-value homes in England, electric vehicles, and gaming businesses. She needs to find more money in order to comply with her own laws aimed at lowering debt and borrowing, while still closing a void in public finances, which is expected to be around £20 billion. Reeves has also stated that she would withdraw the two-child health cap, which limits the benefits to parents of their third child or subsequent children born after June 6, 2017. The triple lock, which means that the state pension increases by either 22% or 2. Average wage growth or inflation is projected to remain unchanged, while the living wage is expected to rise. Ministers have confirmed that pre-packaged milkshakes and lattes would be subjected to the sugar levy as a result of the Budget. Mel Stride, the Conservative shadow chancellor, expressed worry that the Budget would see "tax on hard-pressed, hard-working people moving into the benefits system.

Rain Newton-Smith, the Confederation of British Industry's, warned Reeves not to implement death by a thousand taxes on companies during a conference on Monday. According to her, the chancellor should have

the confidence to make two difficult decisions rather than 20 easier ones. Daisy Cooper, a Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, accused the government of

outright hypocrisyover the government's forthcoming tax reforms.Rachel Reeves once accused the Conservatives of 'picking the pockets' of working people by freezing tax thresholds, but now Labour intends to do exactly the same," she said.