Reeves: Change was never going to happen overnight

Rachel Reeves has urged the public to be patient with Labour on the economy, saying that the change they voted for in last summer's election was “never going to happen overnight”.

- KATE DEVLIN

The chancellor insisted she was “impatient” to deliver and said ministers had made a start on turning things around, but there was “lots more to do” as she blamed the last Tory government for the nation’s financial problems.

Her comments come just days after the Bank of England warned the public of months of sharp price rises ahead, driven by higher food costs.

The central bank said Ms Reeves’s national insurance contributions hike and the rise in the minimum wage were helping to push up the cost of the supermarket shop. It also slashed interest rates to 4 per cent, in a bid to boost the UK’s stumbling economy.

Ms Reeves has also been warned of a £50bn black hole in the government’s finances, which leading economists say means she may have to raise taxes, cut public spending, or tear up her fiscal rules in order to fill.