New UK finance minister eyes spending cuts, accuses predecessor of budget black hole
Updates with comments on spending cuts from Labour's McFadden in paragraphs 6-9 and 15-16
By David Milliken and Kylie MacLellan
LONDON, July 29 (Reuters) -Britain's new finance minister, Rachel Reeves, will accuse the former Conservative government on Monday of covering up the true state of the public finances as she sets out 'tough decisions' on spending cuts.
Elected to run the world's sixth-largest economy in a landslide victory on July 4, Labour has spent much of its first three weeks in power telling the public things are worse than expected in almost every area of public policy.
On taking office, Reeves ordered officials to conduct a fresh assessment of public funding needs which she will present to parliament on Monday ahead of her first formal budget statement later this year.
Labour Party sources said on Friday this assessment had found a shortfall of around 20 billion pounds ($26 billion) and on Saturday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said Britain was "broke and broken".
Late on Sunday, the finance ministry said the audit would show "the previous government overspent this year's budgets by billions of pounds after making a series of unfunded promises".
"Today is about setting out candidly the situation that we've discovered and responding with some very necessary and tough decisions on spending," Labour minister Pat McFadden told the BBC.
British media have reported cuts to a range of projects are on the table, such as plans to rebuild hospitals, roads and rail lines, including the final stage of a flagship high-speed rail link from London to Birmingham.
Asked about the prospect the HS2 rail line would terminate in a London suburb, rather than the city centre, McFadden said the government had inherited "a very difficult situation".
"The previous government chopped it bit by bit ... We'll have to examine that like all the other projects," he told Times Radio.
Reeves will also announce a new Office of Value for Money, a crackdown on government waste, reduced use of external consultants and a sell-off of unused government property, the finance ministry said.
She will tell parliament: "The previous government refused to take the difficult decisions. They covered up the true state of the public finances. And then they ran away."
The Conservatives dismissed these accusations as a pretext from Labour to raise taxes.
McFadden said Labour intended to stick to its election campaign commitments not to raise the rates of income tax, value-added tax and other main taxes.
Budget forecasts in March were signed off by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, although there was widespread reporting of funding challenges in areas such as prisons and healthcare.
"Rachel Reeves is trying to con the British public into accepting Labour's tax rises. She wants to pretend that the OBR ... whose forecasting was used in all of the last Conservative government's budgets, doesn't exist," said Gareth Davies, a Conservative lawmaker who speaks for the party on budget policy.
Tax decisions will come in a formal budget later this year, which Reeves will set the date of in her statement on Monday.
($1 = 0.7769 pounds)
PREVIEW-Rachel Reeves to outline 'mess' in Britain's finances, raising chance of tax rises https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/new-uk-finance-minister-outline-fiscal-mess-raising-chance-tax-rises-2024-07-26/
Britain is 'broke and broken', new government declares https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-is-broke-broken-new-government-declares-2024-07-27/
Reporting by David Milliken; editing by David Evans and Christina Fincher
Eng oxirgi yangiliklar
Javobgarlikdan voz kechish: XM Group korxonalari har biri faqat ijro xizmatlarini koʻrsatadi va onlayn savdo platformamizdan foydalanish huquqini beradi, bu odamga veb-saytda yoki veb-sayt orqali mavjud boʻlgan kontentni koʻrish va/yoki undan foydalanishga ruxsat beradi hamda uni oʻzgartirishga moʻljallanmagan va uni oʻzgartirmaydi yoki kengaytirmaydi. Bunday kirish va foydalanish huquqi doimo quyidagilarga boʻysunadi: (i) Shartlar va qoidalar; (ii) Risklar haqida ogohlantirish; va (iii) Javobgarlikni toʻliq rad etish. Shuning uchun bunday kontent umumiy maʼlumot sifatida taqdim etiladi. Xususan, shuni esda tutingki, bizning onlayn savdo platformamiz mazmuni moliyaviy bozorlarda biror bitimni amalga oshirishga oid maslahat yoki taklif emas. Har qanday moliyaviy bozorda savdo qilish sizning kapitalingiz uchun jiddiy risk darajasini oʻz ichiga oladi.
Onlayn savdo platformamizda chop etilgan barcha materiallar faqat taʼlim/axborot maqsadlari uchun moʻljallangan va unda moliyaviy, investitsiya soligʻi yoki savdo maslahatlari va tavsiyalar; yoki bizning savdo narxlarimizning qaydlari; yoki har qanday moliyaviy vositalar bilan bitim tuzish maslahati yoki taklifi; yoki sizga kerak boʻlmagan moliyaviy reklama aksiyalari hisoblanmaydi
Har qanday uchinchi tomon kontenti, shuningdek XM tomonidan tayyorlangan kontent, masalan: fikrlar, yangiliklar, tadqiqotlar, tahlillar, narxlar va boshqa maʼlumotlar yoki bu veb-saytda joylashgan uchinchi tomon saytlariga havolalar umumiy bozor sharhi sifatida "boricha" taqdim etiladi va investitsiya maslahatini tashkil etmaydi. Har qanday kontent investitsiya tadqiqoti sifatida talqin qilinsa, siz bunday kontentni investitsiya tadqiqotlarining mustaqilligini ragʻbatlantirish uchun moʻljallangan qonun talablariga muvofiq moʻljallanmagan va tayyorlanmaganligini eʼtiborga olishingiz va qabul qilishingiz kerak, shuning uchun unga tegishli qonunlar va qoidalarga muvofiq marketing kommunikatsiyasi sifatida qaraladi. Mustaqil boʻlmagan investitsiya tadqiqoti va yuqoridagi maʼlumotlarga oid risk haqida ogohlantirishimizni oʻqib chiqqaningizga va tushunganingizga ishonch hosil qiling, unga bu yerdan kirish mumkin.
