Rachel Reeves appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain (Image: ITV)
One question left Chancellor Rachel Reeves squirming on Good Morning Britain on Thursday. The Labour politician appeared on the ITV breakfast show, where hosts Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid put questions to her, after she delivered an update on the spending budget just a day before.
But one of the questions proved to be tricky for her as she sidestepped it as best as she could. Richard said to her: “Every single economist that you can shake a stick at this morning, on the left and on the right and in the centre, are saying that you will have to raise taxes.” He then grilled her, asking: “Are you saying to us, categorically, this morning that that won’t be necessary?” There was a brief silence as Reeves considered her next words carefully. Finally, she responded: “Well, no Chancellor is going to write a future budget before they have even had a forecast and before you know the economic situation.”
READ MORE GMB fans rage ‘get her off’ as ‘rude’ guest clashes with Richard [LATEST]
Richard Madeley grilled the politician (Image: ITV )
She elaborated, adding: “But everything I set out yesterday was funded within the envelope which I set out last year in the spring and that’s what the spending review did.
“We have now set the budget for the day-to-day budget for the next three years and capital spending for the rest of this parliament, with a focus on the priorities of the British people.”
Richard’s grilling was not over yet as he urged: “Let’s not mince words, Chancellor.” He added: “You’ve had a terrible start to your job, haven’t you?” He then listed of some of the politician’s controversial moments including axing the winter fuel payments, highlighting a row over her CV and allegedly accepting freebies.
Rachel Reeves announced the spending review yesterday (Image: ITV)
He brutally called her out on popularity, stating: “You are less popular now than Kwasi Kwarteng was after the Liz Truss car crash budget. Do you not wish you had done things a bit differently in this first year?”
Reeves then passed the blame on to the former Conservative government saying that she faced a “difficult inheritance” from them. She said: “There was a £22 billion black hole in the public finances. The previous government was spending money that it didn’t have and I had to make a number of difficult decisions.
“But that is my responsibility as Chancellor, to make sure that the figures add up. Because, if you don’t, then you risk going the same way as Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, crashing the economy and putting mortgage rates through the roof, putting people in peril. I am never going to take those risks with the public finances, but it does involve difficult decisions.”
New Reform UK chairman breaks silence on burqa ban row
David Bull addresses the burka ban row (Image: Getty)
New Reform UK chairman Dr David Bull admitted he is “very anxious about the rise in people” covering their faces amid a burqa ban row.
Mr Bull’s predecessor, Zia Yusuf, stepped down from the role last week shortly after saying it was “dumb” for MP Sarah Pochin to call for a burka ban.
It triggered a row about whether the move was party policy.
Breaking his silence on the issue, Mr Bull told Good Morning Britain: “He says he resigned because he was absolutely exhausted and he was working all the hours god sends.
Zia Yusuf, left, was replaced by Dr David Bull, right (Image: Getty)
“I think when he was asked the burqa question, I think that was probably the final straw for him.”
Asked if Mr Yusuf would now support a burqa ban, Mr Bull said: “He’s said on a vote he would ban it. It’s a free vote, it is a matter of conscience. It’s not party policy.
“But I live in East London, and I have seen a massive demographic shift. I don’t think in a country like Britain, walking around with your face covered is good in terms of communication and social cohesion.
“I’m very anxious about the rise in people that think it is okay to hide their faces. We had a conversation yesterday about whether that was the burqa, crash helmets, scarves or whatever.”
On Thursday, Mr Yusuf said working for a Reform UK government was not “a good use of my time”; however two days later he appeared to have a change of heart and said he would continue working for the party, albeit in a different role.
Speaking in Port Talbot in Wales, party leader Nigel Farage said Yusuf had “lost his rag” and “plunged us into a difficult place”.
But he added: “It was pretty clear by the next morning he quickly regretted what he had done. I forgave him, I said ‘don’t do it again’ but I forgave him.”
Speaking to the BBC earlier in the day, Yusuf had said he regretted his social media post and that “exhaustion led to a poor decision”. He dismissed the incident as a “storm in a teacup”.
Having served as chair of the party for eleven months, Yusuf will now lead the party’s Doge unit, a team inspired by the US Department of Government Efficiency, set up by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
Speaking to the BBC on Monday, Yusuf said “the thing that frustrated me at the time” was that Pochin had not chosen to ask something that was party policy.
Asked for his views on a ban, he said: “If I was an MP I would think about it very deeply, I think I probably would be in favour of banning face coverings in public writ large, not just the burka.
“I’m very queasy and uneasy about banning things that for example would be unconstitutional in the US but we have a particular situation in the UK.”
He said he did not believe Islam was “a threat to the country” but added that the UK had “a problem with assimilation”.
