Shadow Prime Minister Rachel Reeves writhing when asked to provide tax policy details

Shadow Prime Minister Rachel Reeves struggled in a radio interview yesterday.

When she was put on the spot, she struggled to answer, usually asking for Labor to set policies in a laid-back manner. BBC radio 4 presenter of the day Amol Rajan.

This is part of the conversation:

BBC Radio 4 Today host Amol Rajan poses tough questions to Shadow Chancellor.

Amol Rajan: There comes a point when some of the budget proposals are probably only a year from elections related events by 2025/26. selection.

Rachel Reeves: back up these [childcare] Plan when it comes to voting.

AR: What else do you do in parenting? If you are listening to this and working hard to raise your child. They want to know how you differ because they want to decide whether to vote for you.

RR: We support these plans. I wouldn’t have gotten into this mess in the first place.

AR: People feel completely skinny. One of the big reasons they feel thin is financial hardship. Prime Minister says he needs to raise a whopping £120bn in five years, are you against freezing those tax bases?

RR: The Conservative Party became a high-tax party because it became a low-growth party…that’s why we need a serious plan to grow the economy.

AR: Excuse me, what is the plan? You explained the Conservative position…where do you stand on freezing those breaking points?

RR: Let me tell you about that growth plan. Look at President Biden…

AR: No no no. those tax thresholds. I know you have plans for growth, but how do you freeze tax thresholds?

RR: And why are we in this position …

AR: that’s not what i’m asking for. People might want to know what Labor is going to do about the tax threshold to see how much money is left at the end of April.

RR: i totally understand that. We want our taxes to be as low as possible, but let’s be honest, we can’t do that without growing the economy.