Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivers a speech in the media briefing room of 9 Downing Street, London, Tuesday Nov. 4, 2025.

Rachel Reeves this morning laid the groundwork for major tax rises in the Budget on November 26.

But the big problem for the chancellor is that she has repeatedly promised not to do just that.

Labour’s election manifesto last year promised that the party would not increase National Insurance, VAT or income tax if they won the election.

Reeves managed to keep that promise in her first Budget as chancellor last year, even though she put up other taxes by £40 billion.

She initially insisted that was a “once in a parliament” event to repair the public finances and that she would not need to come for more before the next election.

But today, the chancellor hinted she might have to make more “necessary choices” to keep Britain afloat – paving the way for more tax rises in the Budget in what would be the biggest gamble of her political career.

Here’s a look at all the times she has promised not to raise taxes since getting into office...

July 2024

After identifying a £22bn black hole in the public finances, Reeves continued to tell Sky News – and LBC – that the commitments in Labour’s election manifesto “still hold”.

She also told the BBC it was “not true” they would be forced to raise taxes – and repeated this claim in the Commons.

August 2024

Reeves told Bloomberg Labour would not raise taxes on working people, in line with their manifesto pledges.

“We will be keeping income tax, national insurance and value added tax at the rates they are for the duration of this parliament. I would like taxes on working people to be lower, but I believe that you can’t make promises without being able to say where the money is going to come from,” she........

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