RACHEL REEVES is planning to cut public services even more deeply than she had already trailed, according to government officials briefing the press, supposedly a response to the soaring cost of borrowing and the recent fall in the value of the pound.

Reeves has ruled out any increase in government borrowing or tax increases and claims the cuts are necessary because her “fiscal rules” are “non-negotiable” and a “red line” amid concerns that she will be unable to meet the arbitrary debt and spending targets she set herself as Chancellor.

Speaking on Reeves’s behalf, a Treasury spokesperson was explicit: “If we have to choose between raising taxes and cutting spending, we will cut spending.”