Should Rachel Reeves keep her tax promises - or just break them?

This is Money Podcast

This is Money

Business News, News, Investing, Business

4.4 • 734 Ratings

🗓️ 17 October 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Rachel Reeves is in a sticky position ahead of the Budget.
Forecasts suggest she will need £30billion to balance the books - and having made such a fuss about the Tory 'black hole' and her fiscal rules, the Chancellor is in a bind.
Problematically, the government also painted itself into a corner with Labour's election pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT - which amount for two-thirds of tax revenue.
So what can Rachel Reeves do? Should she fiddle at the edges and try to raise bits here and there, distorting behaviour with tax even more, or should she break that promise and hike one of the big three.
On this week's podcast, Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert look at why the Chancellor is in a pickle and what leading economists at the IFS say she could do.
And whether just because she could, does it mean she should?
Plus, should you doom prep your finances, why are millennials becoming landlords and would you ride in a driverless taxi?

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Hosts: Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce, Helen Crane

Producer: Georgie Frost

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to This Is Money podcast, sponsored by Charles Stanley Direct. I'm Georgie Frost, and joining me and Simon Lamber today is Helen Crane. And coming up, the Chancellor needs money, but is bound by her election promises. So can she feel the 30 billion black hole without breaking them? The IFS thinks she can. Also today the warnings of the market
0:23.1	crash are getting louder. We look at how much you need to save as an emergency fund. Plus,
0:28.2	struggling to get on the housing ladder themselves, how a record number of millennials are becoming
0:32.2	landlords. Will the renter's rights bill get me out of my tenancy contract early and who will win
0:38.4	the battle for self-driving taxis?
0:41.2	Don't forget you stay up to date with all the latest breaking money news just go to this
0:44.4	ismoney.co.
0:45.4	.
0:46.4	Or download the app.
0:48.3	But first, a message from our sponsors.
0:50.3	Ever feel like you're second-guessing your money decisions?
0:53.4	You're not alone. That's why Charles Stanley Direct created their financial coaching service. One-to-one time with a real expert who will help you feel confident about your finances. Start with the free 15-minute call at Charles-Stanley.com.com.uk forward slash financial coaching. Go on and take that first step. Remember, investment involves risk.
1:12.4	Now, back to the show.
1:13.9	The Chancellor needs cash to fill a big black hole and beat her borrowing rules.
1:18.9	We have a budget coming up.
1:20.6	Who knew?
1:21.7	In it, we are likely to get some tax rises.
1:24.4	But there are three areas that Rachel Reeves absolutely cannot touch,
1:28.9	according to Labour's manifesto pledge.
1:31.1	That is, income tax, national insurance, for workers, or VAT.
1:36.7	Or can she touch them?
1:39.3	A leading thing tank says there is still a way that the Chancellor can raise tens of billions of pounds more in
	...

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