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Labour should stick to its manifesto promises on tax , the party's new deputy leader Lucy Powell has warned. The former Cabinet minister said it was important for Keir Starmer's government to stand by the promises made before Labour's landslide election victory. It comes just days after Rachel Reeves put the country on notice for tax hikes in a rare pre-Budget speech from Downing Street. The Chancellor repeatedly refused to repeat Labour's manifesto promise not to hike income tax, VAT, or national insurance on working people. Facing a grim economic backdrop the Chancellor told reporters this week: "I have to face the world as it is, not the world as I want it to be." The PM has also swerved questions on the election promise. Pressed on whether it would be acceptable break the promise, Ms Powell said today: "We should be following through on our manifesto, of course. There's no question about that." Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, the Manchester Central MP added: "Trust in politics is a key part of that because if we're to take the country with us then they've got to trust us and that's really important too." She added: "If we're to take the country with us then they've got to trust us. We want to make sure that ordinary working people are better off as a result of this Labour government and we're putting more money back into the pockets of ordinary working people. That's what that manifesto commitment is all about. And that's what this Budget will be about I'm sure." Ms Powell also called for the two-child benefit limit to be lifted "in full" - a demand also made by ex-PM Gordon Brown today. She said: "I think what we've all been talking about recently is the urgency of that now, because every year that passes with this policy in place, another 40,000 minimum, 40,000 children, are pushed into deep levels of poverty as a result of it and that's why it is urgent that we do lift it and we lift it in full." Ms Powell won the deputy leadership race against rival Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson after a campaign based on a call for the party to change course.
