Angela Rayner is among several Cabinet ministers who have written to Keir Starmer with concerns about spending cuts in the Budget, according to reports.
The Deputy Prime Minister is one of multiple senior members of the Labour Government who are worried about plans to cut spending in some departments by up to 20 per cent next year.
Bloomberg reported that Housing Secretary Rayner, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Transport Secretary Louise Haigh had all raised concerns. It comes after ministers spoke up at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Sources told The Times that there was alarm “right across the cabinet”. This was particularly the case in departments whose spending was “unprotected”.
One minister told the newspaper that the cuts were “absolutely huge” and would affect government programmes in areas such as justice, housing and transport. They said the PM was told the cuts would fall inevitably on areas that would impact the Government’s desire to grow the economy. They added: “It is totally self-defeating.”
Asked on Thursday whether she joined colleagues writing to the PM ahead of the Budget, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Sky News: “We have all had conversations, meetings and correspondence as part of the usual budget process. I’m not going to get into a discussion about meetings or private conversations.”
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