Reeves defends winter fuel allowance cut as she vows ‘no return to austerity’ – live

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said there will not “be a return to austerity” but that “detailed” spending by department will be “negotiated”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Ms Reeves said: “There won’t be a return to austerity, there will be real terms increases to government spending in this parliament.”

She told the programme that she has been “really clear” that the “only way to sustainably fund public services is through growing the economy.”

When pushed further on her spending plans, Ms Reeves added: “What I’m saying is there will not be real terms cuts to government spending, but the detailed department by department spending will be negotiated.”

Rachel Reeves has defended Angela Rayner in a row over the deputy prime minister reportedly hiring a vanity photographer to publicise her work.

The chancellor said it is normal for government departments to have communications budgets and stressed the photographer would not just promote Ms Rayner, but the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) as a whole.

On Monday morning she told Times Radio: “All government departments under all governments have press officers and communications budgets. It’s not a personal photographer. It’s to promote the campaigning work of governments.”

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full story:

Rachel Reeves has admitted people might “find it odd” that Labour MPs have received clothes as gifts.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, she denied that she was gifted the suit she was wearing.

But defended MPs or shadow ministers accepting freebies like concert or football match tickets.

The chancellor pointed out that she has been to events like the First Night of the Proms with prominents BBC figures.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has defended the government’s winter fuel policy as she swerved questions about the timing of a debate at the Labour Party conference at which unions plan to push for its reversal.

Asked if the debate being moved from Monday to the final morning of the conference was Labour “running scared of this vote taking place prior to the prime minister’s address”.

She told Nick Ferrari on LBC: “I don’t know the situation about when votes take place, but if delegates want to vote on this, they will get a vote on this.

“I don’t know the timing of the vote, but we’ve already had a vote in parliament where it was overwhelmingly passed.

“This isn’t the decision that I wanted to make. It wasn’t a decision that I expected to make, but given the state of the public finances that I inherited, I think it was right to restrict the winter fuel payment to the poorest pensioners, and to make sure that all of the pensioners entitled to it are getting it.”

Rachel Reeves has promised that there will be no return to austerity ahead of her keynote speech.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, the chancellor was pressed over a £17bn economists believe Labour will have to raise to fill the black hole in the budget.

Ms Reeves said: “We’re doing the spending review in two parts. There will be the settlement for next year, made on October the 30th at the budget, and then next spring, we’ll be doing the settlements for the next two years.”

She did not rule out real terms curts to departments but suggested there will be no return to austerity.

Rachel Reeves told BBC’s Today programme that she found a £22bn black hole cover up when she became chancellor.

She accused the Tories of being “dishonest with people” about what was coming and said the Conservatives lost because the economy was in bad shape.

But she said today she would be setting out the “prize” on offer if the economy grows.

The chancellor added that she was being “honest” about the scale of the challenge and will be setting out the policies to reform the economy.

Rachel Reeves has refused to rule out ending HS2 at Old Oak Common rather than Euston, in central London.

The chancellor was asked whether, after Rishi Sunak cut the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the high speed rail project, she could guarantee it would continue as planned.

But she told LBC it was a “decision we will have to set out in the budget” next month.

“I will look at all those proposals,” Ms Reeves said, leaving open the prospect it could be cut further.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said that a donation of £98,500 for her shadow office when she was in opposition was not for clothing or personal effects.

She told BBC Breakfast it was for “a whole range of things, primarily research in my office, research on the economy, helping with policy development and speech writing – a whole range of things”.

Ms Reeves said: “It’s rightly the case that we don’t ask taxpayers to fund the bulk of the campaigning work and the research work that politicians do, but that does require, then, donations – from small donations, from party members and supporters, from larger contributions, from people who have been very successful in life and want to give something back.

“We appreciate that support. It’s part of the reason why we are in government today, because we were able to do that research work, and we were able to do that campaigning.”

Pressed on whether any of the money was for clothing or personal effects, she said: “No, I’ve been very clear the money that I received to help me for big events and for the campaign trail, and all my donations have been declared in the proper way.”

An SNP MP has described Sir Keir Starmer and his top team’s acceptance of thousands of pounds worth of free gifts including clothing from Labour donor Lord Alli as “totally indefensible”.

Angus and Perthshire Glens MP Dave Doogan told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “I think I, like most other ordinary people from ordinary backgrounds, are aghast at the naivety of UK Government ministers leaving themselves open to whatever the donors of these gifts expect in return.

“If something looks too good to be true, then it probably is. Everybody knows that.

“I think we need to ask ourselves why the most senior members of the UK Government are naively walking into gifts for this and gifts for that totalling £800,000, and thinking that there is no strings attached. Of course there are strings attached. It’s such a bad look.”

He added: “Let’s be really clear, Angela Rayner in particular, and Keir Starmer especially – these are not poor people.

“If Keir Starmer wanted £2,500 worth of glasses, he could have easily bought them. But he didn’t. He took it off somebody who was offering it to him, and that’s not the world that the rest of us walk in.

“People up and down these islands who voted Labour will be thinking to themselves, ‘I think I’ve backed the wrong horse here’, especially in Scotland when 37 Labour MPs are dutifully lining up to defend the actions of the prime minister which are actually totally indefensible.”