Reeves 'not immune' to criticism over NI hike

The chancellor said Labour had had to make "difficult choices", but she believed the economy was now "on a strong footing".

Asked if she could rule out putting up more taxes during this parliament, Reeves said she was "not going to write four or fives years' worth of Budgets" on the programme.

However, she said that Labour's pledge "not to increase for working people the key taxes they pay - income tax, National Insurance and VAT - that is a commitment for the duration of this parliament".

Also on Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch said the Conservatives would be thinking about the economy "in a different way", which would be "completely the opposite" of what Labour was doing.

She criticised the rise in employers' NI contributions as being "not coherent" as most of the increase would be passed on through lower wages and higher prices, but she did not say whether or not she would reverse it.

However, Badenoch did say she would reverse the VAT hike on private schools, calling it a "tax on aspiration that won't raise any money".

Changes to the rules around inheritance tax have come under fire since they were announced in the Budget, with farmers angry about the loss of exemptions.

From April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, will have to pay inheritance tax at 20% - half the usual rate.

Rebecca Wilson, a fifth-generation farmer from Yorkshire, told the Laura Kuenssberg programme that their farm could be facing a tax bill of nearly £1m when her parents died.

Reeves said a farm owned by two people could pass on "£3m essentially tax-free" and there would be 10 years to pay any tax owed.

She added that only "a very small number" of farms would be affected, but said last year 40% of the tax relief fell to "7% of the wealthiest land owners".

"I don't think it is affordable to carry on with a relief like that when our public finances are under so much pressure."