Category Archives: rachel reeves

Rachel Reeves Announces £39 Billion Housing Boost As She Vows To ‘Renew’ Britain

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Rachel Reeves will announce plans to spend nearly £40 billion building affordable homes in a bid to solve the UK’s housing crisis.

The chancellor will outline details of the cash boost in the spending review on Wednesday.

It will be seen as a major victory for Angela Rayner, the deputy PM and housing secretary, who has been locked in a battle with the Treasury for more funding for her department.

Under the plans, £39bn will be spent over the next 10 years on a social and affordable homes programme, which works out at £3.9bn a year.

The last five-year programme, which comes to an end in 2026, was worth £11.5bn, or £2.3bn a year.

A government source said: “The government is investing in Britain’s renewal, so working people are better off.

“We’re turning the tide against the unacceptable housing crisis in this country with the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation, delivering on our commitment to get Britain building.”

Reeves will confirm plans to spend billions on new transport links in the north and Midlands, and fund the completion of a new nuclear power station at Sizewell C.

The NHS and Ministry of Defence are expected to be the big winners in the financial settlement, with other departments facing real terms cuts to their budgets as Reeves tries to balance the nation’s books.

The chancellor will tell MPs: “This government is renewing Britain, but I know too many people in too many parts of the country are yet to feel it.

“My task – and the purpose of this Spending Review – is to change that.

“To ensure that renewal is felt in people’s everyday lives, their jobs, their communities.

“So that people can see a doctor when when they need one, know that they are secure at work and feel safe on their local high street.

“The priorities in this Spending Review are the priorities of working people. To invest in our country’s security, health and economy so working people all over our country are better off.

That is what this Spending Review will deliver.”

She will add: “I have made my choices. In place of chaos, I choose stability. In place of decline, I choose investment. In place of retreat, I choose national renewal.

“These are my choices. These are this Government’s choices. These are the British people’s choices.”

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Rachel Reeves Agrees To Spend £14 Billion On New Nuclear Plant

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Rachel Reeves has agreed to spend £14 billion of taxpayers’ money on a nuclear plant at Sizewell C.

The chancellor will announce the move, which is part of her spending review, at the GMB Congress on Tuesday.

It is expected to create 10,000 jobs, including 1,500 apprenticeships.

Energy secretary Ed Miliband said the project, which will be the first new nuclear plant to open in the UK since 1995, will help to usher in “a golden age of clean energy abundance”.

Sizewell C was one of eight potential sites for new nuclear plants identified in 2009, when Miliband was last energy secretary.

However, the project was never completed during 14 years of Tory government.

It is expected that the plant will come on stream in the 2030s.

Reeves said the announcement showed that Labour was “investing in Britian’s renewal”.

“We are creating thousands of jobs, kickstarting economic growth and putting more money people’s pockets,” she said.

Miliband said: “We will not accept the status quo of failing to invest in the future and energy insecurity for our country.

“We need new nuclear to deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance, because that is the only way to protect family finances, take back control of our energy, and tackle the climate crisis.

“This is the government’s clean energy mission in action – investing in lower bills and good jobs for energy security.”

The Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, in Somerset, is under construction and is expected to produce enough power for about six million homes when it opens, but that may not be until 2031.

The government is also due to confirm one of Europe’s first small modular reactor programmes and will invest £2.5 billion over five years in fusion energy research as part of plans to boost the UK’s nuclear industry.

GMB regional secretary Warren Kenny said: “Nuclear power is essential for clean, affordable, and reliable energy – without new nuclear, there can be no net zero.

“Sizewell C will provide thousands of good, skilled, unionised jobs and we look forward to working closely with the Government and Sizewell C to help secure a greener future for this country’s energy sector.”

But Alison Downes of the ‘Stop Sizewell C’ group said ministers had not “come clean” about the full cost of the project, which the group have previously estimated could be some £40 billion.

“There still appears to be no final investment decision for Sizewell C, but £14.2 billion in taxpayers’ funding, a decision we condemn and firmly believe the government will come to regret,” she said.

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Rachel Reeves To Spend Billions In Red Wall In Bid To See Off Reform Threat

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Billions of pounds of public money are to be spent on new transport projects across the Midlands and north of England as Labour tries to see off the threat of Reform UK.

Rachel Reeves is ripping up Treasury rules so the government can invest more in Red Wall areas where support for Nigel Farage’s party is on the rise.

The chancellor will unveil the £15.6 billion plans in a major speech on Wednesday ahead of next week’s government spending review.

She will announce “a step change in how government approaches and evaluates the case for investing in our regions” following a review of the Treasury’s Green Book, which assesses the costs and benefits of major public projects.

Reeves will say that has been done “to make sure that this government gives every region a fair hearing when it comes to investments”, amid concerns that too much taxpayers’ money is spent in the South East.

Among the projects set to be given the green light is the Metro extension linking Washington to Newcastle and Sunderland, and the renewal of South Yorkshire’s tram network.

A metro extension to Birmingham’s sports quarter is also set to be built, while the Metrolink tram network in Greater Manchester will get new stops in Bury, Oldham and Stockport town centre.

Ministers say the projects will create jobs, boost economic growth and improve commutes for locals.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander, said: “Today marks a watershed moment on our journey to improving transport across the north and Midlands – opening up access to jobs, growing the economy and driving up quality of life.

“For too long, people in the north and Midlands have been locked out of the investment they deserve.

“With £15.6bn of government investment, we’re giving local leaders the means to drive cities, towns and communities forward, investing in Britain’s renewal so you and your family are better off.”

A Treasury source denied that the government announcement was being driven by Labour nervousness at the growing popularity of Reform.

The source told HuffPost UK: “It’s about showing we’re delivering. People want change and investment. We are delivering that.”

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Exclusive: Rachel Reeves On Her ‘Weird’ Life And Why She Won’t Change Course

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“My life is a bit weird these days,” Rachel Reeves candidly admits just hours after delivering her Spring Statement to a packed House of Commons.

She is sitting with HuffPost UK in her small office inside the rabbit warren that is 11 Downing Street.

Having endured a torrid nine months since taking up her role in the wake of Labour’s landslide election victory, it is perhaps unsurprising that she seems tired.

The widespread criticism of decisions like removing winter fuel payments from 10 million pensioners, hiking the employers’ rate of National Insurance and slashing nearly £5 billion from the welfare bill have clearly taken their toll.

“Rachel is very bruised and feels like she’s been made the public face of all the unpopular things that the government is having to do,” one ally said. “Being chancellor is a very lonely position when the economy is in trouble.

“She is effectively the domestic prime minister, which means she has to do a lot of things that people don’t like. It’s not a surprise that she sometimes just looks beaten.”

Reeves has become a lightning rod for the mounting public and political anger that threatens to engulf Keir Starmer’s government.

Nevertheless, there is no sign of her changing course. Calls to increase taxes on the wealthy, or for the government to borrow more rather than impose deep cuts on unprotected Whitehall departments are, for now, falling on deaf ears. The lady, it seems, is not for turning.

“It’s a job that I’ve always dreamed of doing, it’s a job that I’ve always wanted and it’s a huge privilege to be in this role and work with all of the talented people at the Treasury,” Reeves says.

She points to the fact that NHS waiting lists have fallen for five months in a row as proof that the government is making a positive difference to people’s lives.

A rise in the national living wage and the introduction of free breakfast clubs in all English primary schools are also offered up as evidence that Labour is working.

“A government doesn’t get to choose their inheritance,” Reeves says. “I wish the inheritance had been more rosy and that I hadn’t had to take such big and difficult decisions in the early months of my time in office.

“But because we took those decisions and wiped the slate clean after 14 years of economic mismanagement by the Conservatives, it means that in the changing world that we face today, we’re able to respond quickly, effectively and decisively, including reducing overseas development spending to put that money into defence.

“That’s the right thing to do in the world that we are confronted with today.”

Political jeopardy is never far away, however. Labour insiders believe more than 150 of the party’s MPs are currently opposed to the government’s welfare cuts, which they say unfairly target some of the poorest people in the country.

And while not enough of them will vote against the government to overturn Labour’s huge majority, dozens will.

“They are in a real pickle on the welfare stuff,” one source told HuffPost UK. “There is a lot of angst among Labour MPs.”

The Department of Work and Pensions’ own assessment, published on the same day as the Spring Statement, warned that 250,000 people – 50,000 of them children – will be pushed into poverty by the reforms. Reeves rejects that analysis, however.

She says: “Those numbers are based on not a single person moving from welfare into work and we are, alongside this package of welfare reforms, putting in £1 billion of targeted, personalised and guaranteed support for anybody on sickness and disability benefits to help them find work that’s appropriate for the situation that they are in.

“I know that there are thousands of people with disabilities who are desperate to work if only they were provided with the support.

The government wants to make sure “that everybody who can work, does work, while at the same time ensuring there is proper support for those who genuinely because of their sickness or disability cannot work”, she adds.

One senior Labour said many of their MPs “need to get into the real world”.

“Instead of listening to special interest groups in their constituencies, they need to go to the school gates and speak to some real people,” he said.

“Voters who get up in the morning and go to work are angry when they see their next door neighbour staying in bed.”

Reeves has also come under fire in recent days for accepting free tickets to a Sabrina Carpenter concert at the O2 in London.

Some in Labour were aghast that the chancellor had not realised the potential political pitfalls, especially given the row last year over MPs – including Starmer himself – accepting freebies.

While defending her decision, the chancellor tells HuffPost UK that it is not a mistake she will make again.

She says: “I went with a member of my family. As a 46-year-old woman, I wouldn’t say that I’m a massive Sabrina Carpenter fan, but that’s something a member of my family wanted and I took them to the concert.

“A lot has changed since the election in my life, and it’s the privilege of my life to do this job and I wouldn’t change it for anything, but of course there are security considerations that I haven’t had to think about in the past. That means getting tickets for a concert and just sitting in a normal row is not something I can do easily now like I could in the past.

“For security reasons, I was advised to be in a box and the owners of the O2 said that they could sort that for me. They’re not tickets that you could buy. I declared it in the proper way, but I do understand why people think it’s a bit weird – my life is a bit weird these days – but I do understand why people have concerns and I will reflect on that.”

The controversy shone a spotlight on the problems facing senior politicians as they try to juggle their public duties with their private lives.

Asked how she switches off from controlling the nation’s purse strings, Reeves says “I’ve got a young family and so I spend time with them. I go running. I used to go swimming, I haven’t done much of that since the election.

“I do try and have a bit of balance in my life – you’ll need to ask my family how good I am at achieving that.”

With the UK’s economic outlook set to remain unsettled for years to come, it may be a while before Rachel Reeves makes an appearance at a swimming pool near you.

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Here’s What Rachel Reeves Could Announce In The Spring Statement

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It was never the plan for tomorrow’s Spring Statement to be such a major parliamentary occasion.

Rachel Reeves has previously insisted that the autumn Budget, which takes place in October, would be the only fiscal event of the year.

The Spring Statement, by contrast, was only meant to be an opportunity for the chancellor to give a relatively brief “update” on the state of the economy.

But given how much the public finances have worsened in the past six months, the statement has taken on far greater significance than was originally intended.

HuffPost UK looks at the chancellor’s options and what she is expected to announce.

‘The World Has Changed’

We can expect Reeves to blame international uncertainty for the fact that the state of the UK economy has worsened since the Budget.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is set to downgrade its forecast for economic growth this year from 2% to just 1%.

This is a major blow for a chancellor who has pledged to make the UK economy the fastest growing in the G7.

In addition, the OBR will also confirm that the £10 billion of “fiscal headroom” the chancellor thought she would have at the Budget has also been wiped out.

Barret Kupelian, chief economist at PwC UK, said: “Weaker growth, worsening public finances, and higher debt costs have reduced the chancellor’s post autumn Budget room for manoeuvre.

“We expect the OBR to say the economy is growing slower than expected, leading to worse public finance outcomes and higher than expected debt-servicing costs. ”

There is no doubt that the ongoing situation in Ukraine and the Middle East, coupled with the threat of a global trade war sparked by tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, have not helped.

Reeves told the BBC last week: “We can see that the world is changing, and part of that change is increases globally in the cost of government borrowing – and Britain has not been immune from those challenges.”

But critics say some of the chancellor’s own decisions have also contributed to the economic gloom.

These include her decision at the Budget to hike the employers’ rate of National Insurance – a move which has been blamed for falling business confidence.

What Are The Chancellor’s Options?

Labour promised in the election not to increase income tax, VAT and the rate of National Insurance paid by employees.

In addition, Reeves has vowed to stick to her fiscal rules, which prevent the government from borrowing to pay for day-to-day spending.

“Economic stability is non-negotiable – I will never play fast and loose with the public finances like the previous government did,” Reeves has said.

This effectively means that the chancellor is only left with the option of cutting spending if she is to balance the books.

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall announced last week that she wants to slash the welfare bill by £5 billion.

The chancellor has also confirmed that she wants to cut the size of the civil service by 15% in a move which would lead to tens of thousands of job losses in Whitehall.

Other measures include cutting the number of quangos – a process kicked off two weeks ago with the abolition of NHS England.

Major planning reforms designed to make it easier to get construction projects off the ground could also be announced as the government desperately tries to boost economic growth.

Another thing to look out for is whether or not Reeves extends the freeze on income tax thresholds beyond 2028, which could drag millions of workers into higher tax bands, potentially boosting Treasury coffers by £7 billion a year.

Labour Backlash Looms

Dozens of Labour MPs – including some ministers – are known to be furious at the welfare cuts, which are expected to see up to a million people lose their right to Personal Independence Payments.

Many of them could even defy the government whips to vote against the reforms when they come to parliament later in the year.

Charities, campaign groups and trade unions are also angry at what they see as a return to the austerity agenda of the Tories.

But Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said that is “way overblown”, given the huge increase in public spending Reeves announced in the Budget.

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Really important to understand this. Talk of “austerity” is way overblown in context of what govt announced in October and by comparison with stated plans of last govt. Had they implemented those plans (unlikely) that really would have looked like austerity. https://t.co/o2r9Ycrpp5

— Paul Johnson (@PJTheEconomist) March 25, 2025

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Had they implemented those plans (unlikely) that really would have looked like austerity. https://t.co/o2r9Ycrpp5— Paul Johnson (@PJTheEconomist) March 25, 2025\n\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Paul Johnson on Twitter / X","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/PJTheEconomist/status/1904490630497145152","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"uk","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isAdsFree":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"67e2ae5de4b0caf90a222f5f","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/heres-what-rachel-reeves-could-announce-in-the-spring-statement_uk_67e2ae5de4b0caf90a222f5f","entryTagsList":"labour-party,rachel-reeves,spring-statement,@ai_seo_headline","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb","clickToPlayPlayer":"5a777b9b-81fe-41a6-8302-59e9953ee8a2","videoPagePlayer":"19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":2},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"67e2ae5de4b0caf90a222f5f","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"labour party","slug":"labour-party","links":{"relativeLink":"news/labour-party","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/labour-party","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/labour-party"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Labour Party","slug":"labour-party","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/labour-party/"},{"name":"rachel reeves","slug":"rachel-reeves","links":{"relativeLink":"news/rachel-reeves","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/rachel-reeves","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/rachel-reeves"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/rachel-reeves/"},{"name":"spring statement","slug":"spring-statement","links":{"relativeLink":"news/spring-statement","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/spring-statement","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/spring-statement"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/spring-statement/"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

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Really important to understand this. Talk of “austerity” is way overblown in context of what govt announced in October and by comparison with stated plans of last govt. Had they implemented those plans (unlikely) that really would have looked like austerity. https://t.co/o2r9Ycrpp5

— Paul Johnson (@PJTheEconomist) March 25, 2025

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