Conservatives: Reeves must get the axe if she raises tax

Today [Thursday 30^th October 2025] the Conservative Party is throwing down the gauntlet to Labour ahead of the November Budget with a new demand to Keir Starmer – if Rachel Reeves raises tax, she must get the axe.  

In a pre-budget rally, held on the anniversary of last years' disastrous Budget, with Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride, Leader of the Conservative Party Kemi Badenoch will state that Rachel Reeves promised the country that she was ‘not coming back with…more taxes'. She has now signalled, including at the IMF in Washington last week, that she is likely to break this promise and that more taxes are coming in the Autumn.

Badenoch will make clear that no one in the country voted for high taxes and out of control spending, yet Labour's economic mismanagement means that once again these are set to be forced on families. The dire state of the economy has been made even worse by Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer's total failure to stand up to their own backbenchers and get a grip of the spiralling welfare budget. Starmer and Reeves are too weak to take the tough decisions needed to get Britain working. 

Badenoch will also set out that there is an alternative.  

The Conservatives have set out a £47 billion savings plan that would help balance the public finances, cut the deficit, and unlock growth. The Conservatives have encouraged the Labour Government to copy their plans and sit down with the Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Chancellor to find urgent welfare savings in the national interest.

If Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves had any backbone they would take the steps necessary to control spending, back businesses and use these savings to deliver measures that boost growth like the Conservatives' plan to abolish Stamp Duty on family homes.  

Following the rally, the Conservatives will be launching a new digital advertising campaign to put pressure on Labour ahead of the Budget to protect families from even more damaging tax rises.

Kemi Badenoch MP, Leader of the Conservative Party, said: 

“Nobody voted for high taxes and out-of-control spending, but that's what they're getting from this weak Prime Minister.

 
“After her Budget last year, Rachel Reeves promised she was ‘not coming back with…more taxes'. But now that looks like a lie as she is gearing up to impose more punishing tax hikes.

“The British public deserve a government with the backbone and the plan to deliver a stronger economy. If Rachel Reeves breaks her promise and puts up tax, she must get the axe”, 

Sir Mel Stride MP, Leader of the Conservative Party, said: 

“Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves can't be trusted to keep their word.

“At the election, Labour hid their plans for higher taxes and borrowing. After raising taxes by £40billion last year, Rachel Reeves promised she wouldn't come back for more - yet here we are.

“My message to Sir Keir is simple: if Rachel Reeves breaks her promise again, she must go.

“Britain needs a Government with the backbone to control spending, cut the deficit and get growth going. Only the Conservatives have the plan and the team to deliver a stronger economy.” 

ENDS 

Notes to Editors 

Rachel Reeves's Autumn Budget hiked tax and borrowing:

• Rachel Reeves increased taxes by £40 billion a year – meaning that the tax burden will reach a ‘historic high' of 37.7 per cent of GDP. Rachel Reeves raised taxes by £40 billion a year in her first Budget, having only set out £7 billion in manifesto tax plans. In the March 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook, Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said taxes would rise from 35.3 per cent of GDP to a ‘historic high' of 37.7 per cent in 2027-28 (OBR, Economic and Fiscal Outlook, 26 March 2025, link; The Labour Party, Labour's fiscal plan, 13 June 2024, link).

• Rachel Reeves then changed the fiscal rules to increase borrowing to a record high – breaking her promise not to ‘fiddle the figures'. Despite promising not to ‘fiddle the figures', in the Autumn, Rachel Reeves announced a new fiscal rule – public sector debt net of financial liabilities – meaning that public sector net debt is expected to reach 96.1 per cent of GDP by 2029-30 - the highest level seen outside the pandemic since 2010 (OBR, Economic and Fiscal Outlook, 26 March 2025, link; HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2024, 30 October 2024, link; Bloomberg, November 2023, link; Philip Aldrick, Twitter, 3 August 2024, link).

After her budget, Rachel Reeves promised no more tax increases:

• After an appalling response to her Autumn Budget, Rachel Reeves said she is ‘not coming back' with more tax rises. Speaking to business leaders Reeves said: ‘I faced a problem, and I faced into it... 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' (BBC News, 25 November 2024, link).

However, she has since warned tax rises are coming:

• Rachel Reeves has admitted that further tax rises are coming. STUDIO: ‘But you agree, yes, there are tax rises coming down the track' REEVES: ‘I was really clear during the general election campaign and we discussed this many times, I would always make sure that the numbers add up' (Sky News, 15 October 2025, archived).

This is because Labour botched their welfare reforms – failing to stand up to their backbenchers:

• Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves failed to convince Labour MP's of the need to reduce welfare spending, resulting in a humiliating U-turn for Labour. Rachel Reeves was ‘dispatched as part of a ministerial team to convince MPs to vote for the softer plans'. However, the Government only won the vote after gutting most of the Bill's measures at the eleventh hour (The Telegraph, 2 July 2025, link; BBC News, 1 July 2025, link).

There is an alternative: 

• At Conservative Party Conference 2025, we announced our plan to deliver a package of savings worth £47 billion over the next Parliament. Under our ‘Golden Economic Rule', for every pound saved half or more will go to reduce the deficit, and half will go on cutting taxes or spending to boost the economy. We will deliver these savings by cutting welfare spending (£23 billion), reducing the size of the Civil Service (£8 billion), cutting spending on social housing for foreign nationals (£3.9 billion), reducing the cost of the asylum system (£3.5 billion), abolishing Net Zero schemes (£1.6 billion) and cutting back on overseas aid (£7 billion).

• This would allow the next Conservative Government to: