It is three weeks until the Budget – and Rachel Reeves wants to get her narrative out there. The Chancellor held an early morning press conference today to, in her words, ‘set out the circumstances and the principles’ guiding her thinking on 26 November.

Her speech followed a familiar pattern. First, there was the evisceration of the ‘austerity’, ‘reckless borrowing’ and ‘stop go of public investment’ which characterised the last 14 years. In her 25-minute speech in Downing Street, one line in particular stood out: ‘If we are to build the future of Britain together’, Reeves said, ‘we will all have to contribute to that effort. Each of us must do our bit.’

Crucially, she refused to rule out breaking her manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT. Megan McElroy discusses the groundwork she's laying for the budget with James Heale and Michael Simmons.

See the graph Michael refers to here: https://data.spectator.co.uk/polls

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