Chancellor says she is ‘working through a range of options’ to boost the armed forces but does not want to put up taxes
Rachel Reeves has warned “difficult choices” are required to increase defence spending and other budgets may have to be cut, including welfare.
Under pressure for a faster rise in the military budget amid the Iran conflict and Russia’s war in Ukraine, the chancellor said she was “working through a range of options” but preferred not to increase taxes or add to government borrowing.
She said: “My two budgets have both increased taxes substantially. I would prefer not to have to do that again. And on borrowing, well look, we’ve seen through this conflict [in Iran] the cost of government borrowing increase.
“We already spend £1 in every £10 on what the government spends on servicing the debt. If we increase that debt further we’d only be increasing how much we would be spending.”
