Two thirds of voters want Reeves to cut spending rather than hike taxes in Budget

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Sir Keir and his chancellor Rachel Reeves are facing a make-or-break Budget this week, with the chancellor expected to increase taxes to plug the gaps in the public finances

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More than two thirds of voters would rather Rachel Reeves cut government spending than increase taxes in the Budget, new polling this week has revealed.

Data from More in Common also points to a majority of people thinking that Sir Keir Starmer is doing a bad job, while fewer than one in five think he is doing well.

Sir Keir and his chancellor Rachel Reeves are facing a make-or-break Budget this week, with the chancellor expected to increase taxes to plug the gaps in the public finances.

According to More in Common, the prime minister has a poll rating of -51, one of the worst in recent history. This is made up of 68 per cent of Britons who think that Sir Keir is doing a bad job, compared to just 17 per cent who think he is doing a good job.

Meanwhile, just days before the Budget, the chancellor Rachel Reeve’s approval rating is even worse at -52, also the lowest More in Common has recorded for her.

Elsewhere, 68 per cent think former PM Rishi Sunak would have done a better job in the Treasury, and a similar number, 65 per cent, believe that former chancellor Jeremy Hunt, would have also done a better job than his Labour successor.

The same data indicates that two thirds (67 per cent) of people would rather ministers cut spending rather than raise taxes on working people.

Among Labour voters, the split was 56 to 44 per cent in favour of spending cuts, while among Reform UK voters the split was 82 per cent to 18 per cent.

Conservative voters opted 75 per cent in favour of spending cuts, while Lib Dem voters were 61 - 39 per cent split.

The scale of the task facing the chancellor this week was underlined by a Sky News report on Monday morning that the Office for Budget Responsibility has downgraded its forecast for 2026 and every other year before the next election due in 2029.

The downgrade, and the subsequent reduction in tax revenues, will force Ms Reeves to hike taxes to balance the books and build a bigger buffer against future shocks than the historically-low level of headroom she has previously given herself.

Meanwhile, the chancellor has been warned not to inflict “death by a thousand taxes” on businesses in this week’s Budget.

The head of an influential business group said that Ms Reeves should “change course” and avoid heaping costs on to firms as she looks to balance the books with this week’s statement.

Speaking at the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference in Westminster on Monday, Rain Newton-Smith urged Ms Reeves to stand up to Labour’s backbenchers to take tough decisions on issues such as cutting welfare spending.

She said Ms Reeves had to prove she was committed to economic growth and make the hard choices to deliver it.

“Prove it – against opposition, against short-term politics, be it on welfare, be it pension increases, show the markets you mean business,” she said

“Short-term politics leads to a long-term decline, and this country cannot afford another decade of stagnation.

“That means making hard choices for growth now before they get harder, having the courage to take two tough decisions rather than 20 easier ones.

“Raising the headroom to make promises stick, it means one or two broad tax rises, rather than death by a thousands taxes.”

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