Finance minister Reeves vows to do what is necessary, not popular, to protect the country

LONDON: British finance minister Rachel Reeves said on Tuesday she would do what is necessary - not popular - to protect the country against high inflation and high interest rates as she weighs whether to increase taxes at the November 26 budget.

In a rare pre-budget speech, Reeves said her annual fiscal update would be “for growth with fairness at its heart, and a budget that supports businesses to create jobs and to innovate.”

“As I take my decisions on both tax and spend, I will do what is necessary to protect families from high inflation and interest rates,” she said, adding this would be “to protect our public services from a return to austerity and to ensure the economy that we hand down to future generations is secure with debt under control.”