Reeves Defends Tax Rises as Critics Accuse Labour of Returning to ‘High-Tax, High-Spend’ Politics. UK finance minister Rachel Reeves pushes back against claims she has hiked taxes to historic levels to fund expanded welfare spending. Reeves announced £26bn in new taxes this week, on top of £40bn in her first budget—moves critics say return Labour to its old “tax and spend” image. She defends scrapping the two-child benefit cap, calling it a “pernicious policy” that unfairly punishes children and costs society in the long run. The Conservatives accuse her of raiding workers’ pockets to appease Labour backbenchers, while the move complicates Nigel Farage’s Reform UK positioning. Reeves says the tax increases stem partly from a downgraded productivity forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility. She denies abandoning fiscal discipline, insisting she must operate within OBR projections and has chosen “the right decisions” for families and long-term growth. The Resolution Foundation says Reeves’ 2024 and 2025 budgets constitute the biggest back-to-back tax rises by a newly elected government in UK history.