Rachel Reeves sick of people ‘mansplaining’ how to be chancellor

Rachel Reeves has said she is sick of people “mansplaining” how to be chancellor to her as she prepares to deliver her budget next week. Reeves made the comments in an interview with the Times in which she spoke of the pressure of being the UK’s first female chancellor and the subject of constant political attacks. She said it motivated her “a bit” to show she was making the right decisions to those “boys who now write newspaper columns” or describe her as “Rachel from accounts”. “I recognise that I’ve got a target on me,” she said in the interview with Tom Baldwin, a journalist and former Labour communications adviser to Ed Miliband. “You can see that in the media; they’re going for me all the time. It’s exhausting. But I’m not going to let them bring me down by undermining my character or my confidence. I’ve seen off a lot of those boys before and I’ll continue to do so.” Reeves later added: “I’m sick of people mansplaining how to be chancellor to me.” The chancellor was tight-lipped on the budget, which is expected to raise at least £20bn in taxes through lower income tax thresholds, a levy on gambling, more tax on higher-value properties and changes to pensions relief, among other measures. She said that one of the lessons she had learned since last year was: “You have to take people with you from the start and keep explaining over and over again what you’re doing. Sometimes we seem to do a big thing and then just move on to the next one.” Related: Labour MPs urge Reeves to drop private finance plans for NHS buildings Reeves’s budget next week will be critical for the government’s fortunes, as she prepares a package of tax rises and measures to help with the cost of living. Downing Street will be making the argument that the changes they are making to the economy will “deliver the growth that means living standards can improve and we can properly fund public services”. However, polling shows the government and its leadership are unpopular, and Reeves has already dropped plans to plug a fiscal hole with a headline rise in income tax. In her interview, Reeves said: “I’m not even sure any more what the popular path is. There are lots of people who say cut taxes and the economy will grow, but what spending would they cut? “Borrowing is too high, but you can’t cut it overnight. Public services are a mess, but we haven’t got loads of money to throw at them and we have to use what we’ve got well. We can’t just carry on like this and muddle through. We have to make some decisions to get on a different path.” Reeves’s frustration with critics also emerged in a report by the FT that she had told a business leader: “Talk to me with respect – I’m the chancellor of the exchequer,” after they had robustly challenged her over the summer about tax on North Sea drilling. Alongside tax rises, Reeves’s budget is expected to include action on the cost of living, including energy bills. As a first step, the chancellor said on Friday she would extend the freeze on NHS prescription charges announced in last year’s budget for another year, with the cost remaining at £9.90. Reeves said: “No one should put their health at risk because they can’t afford their medication, and as the cost of living still puts pressure on households I’m extending the cash freeze on prescription charges. “Since taking office, we’ve been committed to fixing the NHS, and waiting lists are down by 230,000 over the past year. At next week’s budget I will take the fair choices to deliver what matters most to the country: cutting waiting lists, cutting the cost of living and cutting the national debt.”