By bizn_fun 
In an interview ahead of her conference speech, Reeves was asked if VAT could rise and she said: “The manifesto commitments stand.”
That form of words has been echoed by senior ministers at Labour’s conference, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
But when pressed over whether she would have to put up taxes, Reeves said “the world has changed” in the last year – pointing to wars in Europe and the Middle East, US tariffs and the global cost of borrowing.
“We’re not immune to any of those things,” she added.
Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has called for Reeves to put VAT on private healthcare to raise money for the NHS.
The Labour peer told the i newspaper, external removing the VAT exemption on private healthcare would provide “vital funding” for public services and be “widely supported” by the public.
The policy is supported by the Good Growth Foundation think tank, which estimates putting VAT on private acute healthcare could raise more than £2bn.
The high cost of long-term government borrowing and weak economic growth has fuelled speculation the chancellor will need to increase taxes.
Last month, an independent think tank, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr), estimated that the chancellor would need to plug a £50bn gap in the public finances.
But the chancellor played down the figure and criticised such forecasters, saying “a lot of them are talking rubbish”.