Speaker 1: I tend to make a time for Pebog TV and radio. Chancellor,
Speaker 1: we've heard you say already that the public finances in
Speaker 1: a pretty precarious presition. So I want to ask you.
Speaker 1: Many Labor MPs really want you to lift the two
Speaker 1: child benefit caps. And we hear that in que the
Speaker 1: Prime Minister, and we afford to do that.
Speaker 2: Well, no one needs to tell me how important child
Speaker 2: poverty is. I came into the Labor Party because I've
Speaker 2: wanted children from all backgrounds to have a good start
Speaker 2: in life, and we've already made strides in reducing child
Speaker 2: poverty in this parliament. We're rolling out free breakfast clubs
Speaker 2: are all primary schools, extending free school meals to an
Speaker 2: additional five hundred thousand children with kept the cost of
Speaker 2: school uniform. We've increase the national living wage and the
Speaker 2: national minimum wage. I would I like to do more, yes,
Speaker 2: but of course we haven't always got to explain how
Speaker 2: policies will be paid for. We've got the report from
Speaker 2: the Child Poverty Task Force later this year and we'll
Speaker 2: respond to that. But it is important for all families
Speaker 2: that the the numbers add up, and that's always what
Speaker 2: I've done as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Speaker 1: And that's been a really strong message from you throughout.
Speaker 1: Does your party, though, understand how important it is to
Speaker 1: make the numbers out of stand on the right side
Speaker 1: of the bond market.
Speaker 2: We campaigned the election on economic stability fiscal responsibility, and
Speaker 2: we did that for a reason because it was ordinary
Speaker 2: working people and businesses who paid the price for the
Speaker 2: economic mismanagement in the last parliament, when interest rates went
Speaker 2: through the roof, when inflation got out of control, when
Speaker 2: pensions are put in peril. And because of that and
Speaker 2: my party, the Labor Party, accepted the crucial importance of
Speaker 2: economic discipline to support working families. It's not intention economic responsibility,
Speaker 2: so our commitments to make people better off it is
Speaker 2: part of that commitment. Because there's five cuts and interest
Speaker 2: rates as you know by the Bank of England, but
Speaker 2: they've only been possible because of that stability We returned
Speaker 2: to the economy.
Speaker 1: Look on winter fuel payments, on pay rises for doctors,
Speaker 1: on welfare reform. You've seemed to give, but when are
Speaker 1: you going to take away? When are you going to
Speaker 1: choose the bond market over the left of your party?
Speaker 2: Well, if you look today at my conference speech. I'll
Speaker 2: be setting out a youth guarantee because at the moment
Speaker 2: we've got a million young people who are not in education,
Speaker 2: employment or training. That's one in eight young people. I'm
Speaker 2: not going to let that stand. It is a waste
Speaker 2: of their talent and potential. But it's also a huge
Speaker 2: waste for business and a huge way for taxpayers that
Speaker 2: we are subsidizing young people to be out of work
Speaker 2: when we want them to be in training or in
Speaker 2: paid employment. And that's one example of how we're reforming
Speaker 2: the welfare state to get the costs down and at
Speaker 2: the same time are bringing more people into work.
Speaker 1: What would you do about it if someone said they
Speaker 1: don't want to work in the hair hope, well, that's
Speaker 1: not acceptable.
Speaker 2: You know, like welfare is not an alternative to work.
Speaker 2: The welfare state is there if you need it. You
Speaker 2: can't say to actually, I'd rather remain on benefits than
Speaker 2: take that job opportunity. And that's a really important part
Speaker 2: of what I'm setting out today, built on what the
Speaker 2: previous labor government did under Tony Blair with the New
Speaker 2: Deal for Young People that said there was not an
Speaker 2: option just to stay on benefits, and that's the same
Speaker 2: with me as Chancellor.
Speaker 1: Okay, look, I don't expect you to pre empty budget
Speaker 1: with me, Chancellor, but you did promise business that there'd
Speaker 1: be no more borrowing and no more tax rises. Is
Speaker 1: that still true?
Speaker 2: Well, what I did last year at the budget was
Speaker 2: draw a line under the economic and fiscal mismanagement of
Speaker 2: the previous government, and that did require difficult decisions on taxes, so.
Speaker 1: There won't be more of them.
Speaker 2: Well, I think all of your viewers can see that
Speaker 2: the last year has bought his fair share of global challenges,
Speaker 2: the global cost of borrowing, the tariffs from the United States,
Speaker 2: the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, the disruptions to
Speaker 2: supply chains, and Russia's intensified aggression. I'm Chanceller in the
Speaker 2: world as it is, not as the world as I
Speaker 2: might worship to be, and I had to respond to
Speaker 2: those But those fiscal rules that we set out in
Speaker 2: the election, to pay for day to day spending through
Speaker 2: tax receipts, to get deck down as a share of GDP,
Speaker 2: to get the deficit down this year, those commitments stand.
Speaker 2: And I'm also determined to bring down inflation further because
Speaker 2: I recognize that inflation at three point eight percent is
Speaker 2: still too high, so that is a global challenge as well.
Speaker 2: But as we get that.
Speaker 1: Down, those commitments stand. You see, the manifesto stands. In
Speaker 1: the manifesto, you said will not increase national insurance, the
Speaker 1: basic higher or additional rates of income tax or V
Speaker 1: eight Yes or no? Does that still hold?
Speaker 2: Yes? It does. And we also made that commitment around
Speaker 2: corporation tax as well. And those commitments are spanned and
Speaker 2: they stand for a reason because working people paid a
Speaker 2: heavy price in the last parliament. It was the worst
Speaker 2: parliament on record for living standards. It's still the biggest
Speaker 2: challenge for working people. So those commitments stand. But what
Speaker 2: I want your viewers to know that my commitments to
Speaker 2: economic stability, to fiscal responsibility and to those fiscal rules
Speaker 2: they absolutely stand because they are the bedrof of stability
Speaker 2: and only with stability can we grow the economy.
Speaker 1: So we need to know where you're going to The
Speaker 1: money from the French are in a similar fiscal fine,
Speaker 1: they're similar seemingly on the brink of a wealth tax.
Speaker 1: Is it time for a mansion tax? You're in the UK.
Speaker 2: But I would like to differentiate ourselves from what's happening
Speaker 2: in other countries around the world are here, yes, but
Speaker 2: they have struggle to get a budget through, and we
Speaker 2: successfully got the budget through last year and the spending reviewer.
Speaker 2: Many people said that wouldn't be possible because we had
Speaker 2: to make difficult decisions. But I'm up for difficult decisions
Speaker 2: when they are in the national interest and I will
Speaker 2: continue to take them. We already taxed wealth in Britain
Speaker 2: with capital gains tax, with inheritance tax. The budget last year.
Speaker 2: As you know, we got rid of the non domicile
Speaker 2: status in the tax system. We put VAT on the
Speaker 2: school fees, we increase taxes on private jets. We already
Speaker 2: have taxes on wealthy people in Britain. I don't think
Speaker 2: we need to stand alone with wealth tax, and in fact,
Speaker 2: countries that do have that don't have those other taxes.
Speaker 2: I'm not even sure it would work.
Speaker 1: Okay, And there's been growing concerned in the city as
Speaker 1: well that you could target the banking sector for high attack.
Speaker 2: I think we probably shouldn't go through every single it's possible,
Speaker 2: what's your message to the site. I think that from
Speaker 2: both of my Mansion House speeches, the city know how
Speaker 2: much I value the contribution that they make both through
Speaker 2: direct employment and investment, but also supporting the wider economy
Speaker 2: with an efficient allocation of capital. And the regulatory reforms
Speaker 2: that I bought in at Chancellor are all about promoting
Speaker 2: growth and job creation and businesses coming to Britain in
Speaker 2: financial services.
Speaker 1: Chancellor, you've also already said that you would be open
Speaker 1: to just having one OBR forecast per year. You accused
Speaker 1: Liz Trust right here on Boomberg TV of sidelining the OBR.
Speaker 1: How is this different?
Speaker 2: Well, the International Monetary Fund have said that there should
Speaker 2: be one physical event a year, and I committed to
Speaker 2: that in the manifesto and have done since. I think
Speaker 2: that their recommendation is a sensible one. That will have
Speaker 2: to mean changes in the second forecast, but that's not
Speaker 2: about reducing transparency. That is about better economics policymaking, so
Speaker 2: we're not having to change policy and giving that uncertainty
Speaker 2: every six months for businesses.
Speaker 1: Just finally, how much worse the polls need to get
Speaker 1: for you to accept that we need to replace Kissed Armer.
Speaker 2: But Kirs Starmer got elected with a massive mandate last year.
Speaker 2: If someone has said fifteen months ago that we would
Speaker 2: be the fastest growing economy in the G seven. We'd
Speaker 2: have five cuts in interest rates, we had done trade
Speaker 2: deals with the US, India and the EU. The wages
Speaker 2: would have risen faster in the first ten months as
Speaker 2: this labor government than the first year ten years of
Speaker 2: the previous conservative government. I think most people have said,
Speaker 2: I don't think so, Rachel. We've achieved those things with
Speaker 2: Kira as Prime Minister, and we'll get on and continue
Speaker 2: the job.