After announcing the largest package of government cuts since 2015 on Tuesday, Rachel Reeves was likely prepared to rebut accusations that Labour is returning Britain to a programme of austerity.
Around £4.8 billion is set to be slashed from welfare spending over the next five years, the chancellor confirmed in her spring statement, with the changes set to plunge at least 250,000 into poverty. At least 50,000 of these will be children, figures from the government’s own analysis finds.
