Rachel Reeves has urged Labor MPs to unite behind her budget as she vowed to remain chancellor for years to come.
At a Parliamentary Labor Party meeting on Monday afternoon, Reeves warned MPs they must “stick together” if they were to win the next election.
The budget, which is expected to contain tax increases, will be delivered on Wednesday after weeks of speculation.
Reeves said he thought Labor MPs would like to receive between 90% and 95% of their spending plan, but warned they would also have to accept tougher measures: “It’s a package, not a selection. You can’t say you like bottles of cola but you don’t like fruit salad.”
“Everything comes together and comes together as a whole.”
He said his three priorities would be: “Reducing the cost of living, reducing NHS waiting lists and reducing the cost of debt.”
After the meeting, one Labor MP said the chancellor had been “strong and honest”, but another said her calls for unity had sounded “desperate”.
In the year since the last budget, Labor MPs have become increasingly critical of Reeves’ trial.
The Chancellor has been forced to make a 180-degree turn on some policies, including cutting winter fuel payments.
There were also concerns in the party over suggestions that she would use this Budget to increase income tax rates, a move that would have broken the party’s election manifesto promise.
The government now appears to have backtracked on that proposal.
