UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch calls on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to resign, accusing her of breaking promises and mishandling the Autumn Budget.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to resign, accusing her of breaking key tax pledges and mishandling the government’s Autumn Budget.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Badenoch described Reeves as “shameless” and “utterly incompetent,” criticizing the Chancellor for delivering what she called “a nightmare before Christmas.” Badenoch told Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer: “If he had a backbone, he would sack her.” She added that the Chancellor should step down if she had “any decency.”
The Budget, Reeves’s second since taking office, froze income tax thresholds for three additional years, a move that will increase tax bills for millions of working Britons. Additional measures include £4.7 billion ($6.3 billion), in revenue from National Insurance charges on salary-sacrificed pension contributions, despite earlier promises not to raise these taxes.
Badenoch also highlighted Reeves’s decision to release the Budget early, describing it as a historic breach of protocol and a sign of poor Treasury management. “She has become the first Chancellor in history to release the Budget ahead of time,” she said.
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Critics argue that these measures mark the largest tax rise in British history, adding £40 billion ($53 billion), to household burdens. Badenoch claimed Labor’s policies risk turning the UK into “a shambolic laughing stock” among international investors, while framing the Budget as a transfer of wealth from workers to welfare programs.
However, the Budget also includes provisions aimed at reducing child poverty. Reeves’s government has removed the two-child cap on Universal Credit, a move projected to benefit 560,000 families and reduce child poverty by 450,000 by 2029-30. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates the measure will cost £2.3 billion ($3 billion), in 2026-27 and £3 billion ($3.9 billion), by 2029-30.
The OBR also confirmed that ongoing tax freezes will result in 780,000 more basic-rate, 920,000 more higher-rate, and 4,000 additional-rate taxpayers by 2029-30, generating roughly £8 billion ($10.4 billion), in revenue.
Badenoch additionally criticized the government’s handling of asylum policy, noting that taxpayers face £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion), in extra spending due to increased arrivals by small boats and reliance on hotel accommodations, despite Reeves’s earlier pledge to cut asylum costs.
The confrontation underscores deep political tensions in the UK over tax policy, social welfare, and immigration ahead of the next general election, highlighting the challenges Reeves faces balancing fiscal promises with Labor’s broader policy goals.