UK Chancellor of the Exchequer: Judgment of tax demand before election was wrong

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said she was wrong to tell British voters before the general election that Labour would not announce new tax increases, even as she assured the public there would be no repeat of her first Budget in the coming years. Reeves was asked in an interview on Sunday to explain her comments in June, when she said "there are no plans to increase any taxes beyond what we have already put forward". The remarks have come under closer scrutiny since she unveiled plans for a 40 billion pound ($52 billion) increase in fiscal revenue. The plans include payroll tax and inheritance tax reform, which are measures not specifically mentioned in Labour's election manifesto. " I was wrong on June 11, "she said in an interview, saying she had underestimated the size of Britain's budget shortfall." Less than a month after I said that, senior Treasury officials took me into a room and they laid out a huge black hole in the public finances. "