Post your questions for Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer

[JustineMumsnet]

Hi all,
Next week we’ll be back in Westminster to put your questions to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves MP.
If there’s something you’d like me to ask her - from the big economic picture to how the cost of living is affecting families (or anything else) - then please post your question below.

As ever, one question per user please, and keep it civil. We’ll be tight on time, so short, focused questions will help us get through as many as possible.

We’ll close the thread early on Sunday evening, so please do get your questions in before then. We’ll be back soon with her responses.

Thanks,
Justine

Why isn’t the state pension means tested? Yes, we have poor, struggling pensioners. We also have rich pensioners who simply do not need what is according to Labour a benefit.
and when I say means tested, I mean at a reasonable rate, so that we are protecting those in need.
And why can’t you bring retirement age down and free up jobs first the young, fit and healthy? Life expectancy does not equal good health.

This is a good question. In relation to the declining birth rate I would also like to ask if the government are considering funding more rounds of NHS IVF treatment and making things cheaper for young parents such as introducing standardised and simplified school uniform across the country and regulating pricing on baby/ toddler food items which are currently very expensive?

Dear Chancellor,

I understand decisions are complex and a balancing act but I am concerned that many policy decisions seem to have perverse impacts that are not in line with stated strategy.

• The increase in employer NI and minimum wage hurts workers by making businesses less likely to hire them;
• the 100k tax trap incentivises high earners to be less productive and alienates them from support for welfare (whereas universal childcare support would be immensely popular, fair and remove incentives for reduced productivity);
• we have offshore interests and private equity with free reign to destroy people’s lives through predatory service charges for residential buildings, or debt loading private business and gutting quality and value;
• and finally, stamp duty is quite possibly the worst tax imaginable! It makes the property market much less liquid than it should be and punishes FTB and owners of properties that have stagnated in value while being a boon for those who were lucky enough to buy a few decades ago and have seen 300% increase in value of their homes, who get to laugh all the way to the bank with no capital gains tax to pay! A tax should be applied on a profit not on a trade - replacing SD with an equivalent CGT on primary residences would free up the market and make it fair for young people with same tax income for govt.

Will Labour ever make the bold sweeping changes needed to boost the economy?

Is it your party's implicit intention to ensure that as many post 92 universities close as quickly as possible?

Do you realise the impact of reducing the threshold for employer's NI, when you increased the rate, meant the increase extended to hourly paid workers, visiting lecturers, the most precarious academics in HE? The additional unbudgeted half a mill, meant cuts had to be made - to jobs. Notwithstanding the changes to immigration which make student recruitment ever more difficult which is essential when home students are deciding not to enrol due to costs/student loans.

Thank you in advance.

Given that all modelling shows that universal free childcare would more than pay for itself (would generate £8 billion for the economy above the costs of provision), and given we know it would save money in the long-term through supporting vulnerable families and given it would have a hugely equalising impact for women in the workplace, why haven't Labour delivered this? It seems like a no-brainer.

Given the millions the government is making due to the increase in fuel prices (estimated an extra £600m in VAT/fuel duty and climbing by the day), does the government have any plans to invest this money into an area of need that will benefit the country? Do we still have a ‘black hole’ in the public finances?

Will the chancellor acknowledge that changes to employment laws have had a negative knock on effect on young people who are finding it impossible to find their first job? Can she provide specific action she will take to help with this very significant problem?

Yes I’d ask this as well. We all agree that raising children out of poverty is a good thing - and surely the best way to do this is to make sure their fathers actually pay for them? One of the things the US does really well is to chase down parents who don’t pay child support - they can’t get a driving licence or get married or have any government service if their payments are outstanding - and the debt is never written off. The CMS should be overhauled to be much more aggressive about making sure that children are financially supported by both parents.

When is welfare reform going to happen? The current pension model is unsustainable-42% of welfare spend is on pensions and with an aging population and predictions highlight fewer workers to support. Meaningful change needs to happen to encourage private pension saving and relieve the dependence on state pension for younger workers

Chancellor, the UK has shut down 40GW of thermal generation (gas, coal, nuclear) over the past decade and replaced it with 4GW of renewables. We now import 35% of our electricity through underwater cables. By 2031 we will have maybe 38GW of on-demand generation versus a peak demand of 50GW. We will need all interconnectors importing at full power for us to meet peak demand when it is not windy. The problem is that when it is not windy they probably won't have any electricity to spare. This means we are likely to have to ration electricity like South Africa (load shedding).

As the market forecasts we will have to ration electricity and have South African style load shedding, how many investors do you think will want to open data centres or factories in the UK?

How are you planning to pay for the much needed increase in the Defence budget?

You have faced a lot of mockery and abuse from the media and on social media, including on Mumsnet, from the minute you became Chancellor. Why is it that female politicians are always given a rougher ride than their male counterparts and how do you cope with it?

We have one child in Private School and one in State. We accepted 20% vat increase on Private School fees in Jan 2025 in the belief this money would be used to improve funding in state schools. 16 months on we have seen no evidence of this whatsoever and teachers at our son's state school say budgets are squeezed more than ever before. Where has the money gone?

^ This

When is stamp duty going to be reformed. I would love to downsize from my family home and free if up for a larger family, but am really out off by losing a chunk of money in stamp duty. Thank you

The system of funding Social Services through Council Tax and Business Rates isn’t working and has left many higher-tier authorities on the verge of bankruptcy, despite cutbacks to other services.

Our local Council has “received Exceptional Financial Support” from the government, but I think this term is very misleading as the government hasn’t given it a penny - it has merely granted it permission to borrow money, sell off assets and raise Council Tax by more than 4.99%.

This funding model is completely unsustainable, especially as the poorest areas tend to have the highest demand for Social Services. When will the government start funding Social Services and Social Care from the Treasury?

Please will you task teams to calculate, and then publish, these childcare proposals:

1. removing the £100k income limit for child care credits - if this cap is removed, how much additional income tax would be estimated to be returned by parents who have limited their working hours to avoid this trap?
2. making childcare expenses (nursery, childminder, nanny) tax deductible, how much tax loss would this be, and again what is the potential impact on parents working and spending through this route?

thank you

The design of ‘plan 2’ tuition fees means that the majority of graduates will not pay off their loan balance and will be paying an extra 9 per cent marginal rate for the first 30 years of their working life. Whilst the proposed 6% cap is helpful for the higher earning graduates, lower earning graduates will not benefit unless the RPI rises over 6%. What can the Government do to reduce the tax burden on lower earning graduates?

You were clearly a token appointment who is poorly qualified for the role. Do you regret accepting the role of Chancellor?

For all labours talk about childcare, breakfast clubs etc and further including the state in every aspect of parenting..

What about couples who have saved and planned for their children and would like a parent to stay home as part of that plan?

• why can’t one person transfer their tax free allowance to their spouse when caring for children?
• would it be cheaper and better for children long term if we followed the German model where you can have extended parental leave (up to 3 years)
• why is SMP so low when the state pension is apparently the minimum amount to live on?
• how do you expect the birth rate to increase when Labour aren’t family friendly in any regard? Or do you expect to keep importing people for the gap to be filled?
• why are those on UC having their child cap lifted which incentivises those in poor financial situations to keep having children whilst most working couples can’t have more than 1?

Further to this. Do you think that bursting into tears in the house has also set women back and further cemented stereotypes about women being too emotional for high powered roles when your male counterparts throughout history have never had such an emotional outburst?

Sincerely a woman in a male industry who thought it was terrible optics for us as a sex.

Now that most people in poverty are not pensioners, when can we expect a recalibration of the help given to that age group? Like many families our standard of living has not increased for the last 15 years due to the constant fiscal drag (ramped even further by you) and paltry public sector wage increases (we are not doctors). Meanwhile my father (who has never earned enough to pay higher rate tax) collects bank accounts like sweeties to ensure he doesn't breach the FSCS compensation limits.

How closely do you model the expected effects of any changes you make to taxation?

For example, do you

1. calculate only the expected increase in taxation, or
2. do you factor in that you won't get all of that because some people will change their behaviour (drive less, not move house, wind up their business) because they can't afford the increase? Or,
3. Calculate for the knock-on effect of changed behaviour e.g. when people choose not to move house, the loss of income to estate agents, solicitors, removals, carpet sales, builders etc.?
4. Or, and this might be harder to calculate, do you build in the negative revenue caused by e.g. an increase in unemployment benefits due to a pub or restaurant being driven out of business by the relentless rise in business rates, minimum wage, national insurance etc.?
5. Is any calculation made for the loss to the wider electorate of public amenity such as pubs / restaurants / shops closing locally?

I'd expect you to cover points 1. and 2., possibly 3. I wish you would model for the inevitable 4. and 5., because they are, sadly, inevitable.

What are your thoughts on Universal Basic Income?

It was recently reported in the Sunday Times that of 238 new Labour MPs elected in July 2024, 72 worked in the charitable sector, 72 were political employees and 70 worked in communications or lobbying.

It could be said that those 214 new Labour MPs have a background in spending the wealth of a nation, not in building that wealth.

Is this the reason that the Government's welfare reforms were scuppered by a rumoured rebellion of Labour Backbenchers? Because Labour MPs no longer come from the labouring classes?

And what is the Labour Party going to do to correct this? How are you going to attract engineers, factory workers, publicans, shopkeepers, business owners, people who work in the private sector generally, to join the ranks of the Labour Party?