Zack Polanski responds to Rachel Reeves pre-budget speech

Responding to Rachel Reeves speech this morning in which she said she will make the ‘necessary choices’ in the budget, Green Party leader Zack Polanski said:

“Rachel Reeves breakfast time speech will have left millions spitting out their cornflakes as this was clearly looking to prepare the nation for tax rises. She failed again to say how her government will tackle the cost of living or address the UK’s mushrooming inequality.  

“Any measures that look to balance the books on the backs of some of the most vulnerable – and those struggling to pay their rent; their food and energy bills – instead of taxing the assets of multimillionaires and billionaires will be the mark of economic, social and environmental failure.  

“This must be a cost-of-living budget. That’s a moral imperative.  

“An estimated 14.5 million people in the UK (JRF, 2025) – over one in five – live in poverty and just under 3 million people can’t afford to heat their homes (Govt, 2025).  

“Meanwhile, billionaire wealth grew by £35 million each day in 2024 and Britain’s 50 richest families now hold more wealth than half the population combined (Equality Trust, 2025). 

“This cannot go on. We need to tax wealth fairly to address these indefensible levels of inequality, reduce the burden on the poorest and help fund our frontline services that we all rely on.”