Reeves refuses to say she will stick to manifesto pledge on tax rises and insists she must face world ‘as it is’ – as it happened

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Reeves says welfare needs to be reformed.

There is nothing progressive about refusing to reform a system that is leaving one in eight young people out of education, or employment.

I put our public finances back on a firm footing, provided an urgent cash injection into a faltering public services and began rebuilding our economy.

But since that budget, the world has thrown even more challenges our way.