Labour Conference LIVE: Rachel Reeves fails to rule out breaking manifesto pledge not to raise taxes in Budget

Rachel Reeves said the Labour Party’s manifesto commitments “stand” on whether the Government will raise VAT at the Budget later this year, but did not explicitly rule it out.

Ahead of the election last year, Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Reeves promised not to raise taxes on “working people”.

However, there is speculation the Government is considering a tax rise later this year to bring in money.

When asked directly by Times Radio whether she had any plans to increase VAT, the Chancellor said: “I am being clear. We made those commitments in the manifesto, and those manifesto commitments stand.

“We went through all of this in the general election 15 months ago where people said ‘are you going to rule this out? Are you going to do this?’

“We made those commitments in the manifesto. We were elected on those manifesto commitments, and those manifesto commitments stand because I want to make working people better off.

“Judge me on my record, because last year at the budget people said, ‘Oh you’re not going to be able to honour your manifesto commitments’, well we did increase taxes in the budget last year, but without hitting the payslips of ordinary working people.”

It comes as the Prime Minister also failed to rule out whether the Government will break the promise over fresh fears Labour will have to find £30billion at then Budget.

Ms Reeves is awaiting the first official forecasts from the budget watchdog on the state of the economy which the Treasury is expected to receive later this week.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is set to warn Ms Reeves that she will have to find about £30billion in further revenues or savings as a result of higher borrowing costs, as well as policy U-turns and forecasted future economic growth.

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Chris Philp: Keir Starmer 'completely wrong' to dismiss border control as racist

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has told GB News that "there is nothing racist at all about wanting to control our borders".

"It says a lot about Keir Starmer that he dismisses border control plans in that way," he said.

"He was completely wrong ... to use that word."

Mr Philp said that Labour's border control was "extremely weak".

"Just on Saturday, a couple of days ago, they let in ... 895 illegal immigrants," he said.

Labour to expand ‘intensive supervision courts’ to tackle reoffending

Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy has promised "smarter justice" as he announced plans to expand new sentenced which are aimed at tackling the root causes of crime.

Mr Lammy is expected to announce the expansion of "intensive supervision courts" on Monday at Labour's annual conference in Liverpool.

Unlike normal courts, the intensive supervision courts will see criminals with a history of repeated short sentences, substance abuse, or other complex needs brought back before the same judge to track their progress.

The scheme has already been piloted in areas, including Liverpool.

Young people will have benefits scrapped if they refuse job offers

Young people will have their benefits scrapped if they refuse job offers or training under new plans set to be revealed by Rachel Reeves.

The Chancellor is also expected to pledge to end long-term youth unemployment by guaranteeing any young person paid work if they have been unable to find a job or training for at least 18 months.

The "youth guarantee" will see thousands of young people who are unemployed or unable to work due to sickness offered help by authorities.

However, if this is refused, their benefits could be cut.

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Andy Burnham challenges Keir Starmer over allowing ‘climate of fear’ in Labour

The Greater Manchester Mayor has accused the Prime Minister of allowing a "climate of fear" in the Labour Party.

It's a fresh attack from Andy Burnham on Sir Keir Starmer on the first day of the party's conference in Liverpool.

The Mayor said debate over climate was being "closed down" within the party and claimed the leadership had been "narrow and shallow" on the topic.

Mr Burnham refused to rule out a future campaign to challenge Sir Keir's leadership

He added that people who wanted him to show loyalty to Sir Keir did not properly understand the challenge the Government was facing.