Politics

Rachel Reeves’ Painful PMQ Moment as Labour Dodges Tax Rise Questions

Published on June 26, 2025

Rachel Reeves looked seriously uncomfortable during today’s Prime Minister’s Questions as the Conservatives piled pressure on Labour over fears of looming tax hikes. With Keir Starmer away at the NATO summit, Angela Rayner stepped in to defend the government—but she didn’t have an easy time of it.

Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride, standing in for Kemi Badenoch, went straight for the jugular, demanding Rayner repeat Labour’s promise not to raise taxes on working people in the upcoming Budget. Knowing full well that lying in Parliament is a big deal, Rayner carefully avoided making any firm commitments—and the Tory benches erupted, reported the Express.

“The whole House will have heard that the Rt Hon. lady did not repeat the Chancellor’s promise not to raise taxes, and Britain’s businesses have today been put on notice: tax rises are coming,” Stride declared. He then dropped another bombshell, pointing out that despite Labour’s pledge to freeze council tax, the Institute for Fiscal Studies predicts the biggest increases in a generation. “A £7bn tax rise, and yet the Chancellor and the Prime Minister have repeatedly claimed that the government will not raise taxes on working people,” he added.

Rayner fired back, accusing the Tories of having “an absolute nerve” and reminding them they hiked council tax “every single year under their government.” But Stride wasn’t done. He pointed out that even Labour MPs aren’t fully behind their own Chancellor’s plans, with a rebellion brewing over welfare cuts. “I’m not even sure that the Rt Hon. Lady herself is convinced,” he taunted. “So can I ask her: isn’t she just a little embarrassed to be defending policies she doesn’t even agree with herself?”

Rayner swerved the question again, instead boasting about Labour’s record. “We’re putting working people first,” she said. “I’m proud—we’ve had a huge boost to the minimum wage, the biggest uplift to affordable housing in a generation and expanding free school meals to half a million people.”

The whole exchange left Reeves wincing in her seat, and it’s no surprise—Labour’s refusal to rule out tax rises is becoming harder to ignore. With the Budget just months away, the pressure’s only going to get worse.

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