There was a time when you could find out directly from the finance minister what the budget would be; Now most of them are published in newspapers days in advance. And so we have a good idea of ​​what happened. Rachel Reeves She will say this on Wednesday, when she stands to deliver the Labor Budget for the first time in 15 years and the first by a female chancellor in British history.

For example, we know that: the number of taxes is increasing: Almost certainly employers’ national insurance, most likely capital gains tax, most likely inheritance tax. We know borrowing will also rise: Reeves has changed his so-called fiscal rules to allow an additional £50bn to be invested in new infrastructure. When it comes to day-to-day spending, the NHS will be the top priority, it said.

will be some unpopular changes as well: For example, the Government’s decision to increase the maximum bus fare from £2 to £3 is a move that is likely to increase travel costs for millions of low-paid workers. Debate will also continue over Labour’s manifesto not to increase taxes on workers and whether increasing national insurance for business owners is compatible with that.

But for all the criticism he will face for certain changes, Reeves deserves praise for what he is trying to do in this Budget. The chancellor had several options in trying to close this link. £22 billion black hole Conservatives have abandoned him, he insists, none of them particularly palatable. Should he cut spending to recoup the money, as George Osborne did with devastating results between 2010 and 2015? Should he instead borrow more to fix public services, as those on the left of his party want, and risk spooking markets? Should he raise taxes to raise billions of dollars but risk hindering growth?

Reeves seems to have chosen a logical combination of these three. The plan seems clear: Prioritize immediate investments in public services and new infrastructure to keep the economy growing, and pay for it through some additional borrowing, as well as a carefully calibrated increase in taxes generally paid by those best able to shoulder the burden. and some budget cuts elsewhere.

It is the right decision to prioritize public expenditures. Everyone can see that England’s services have failed. Ambulances line up outside emergency rooms, where patients lie in agony on trolleys in the corridors. School children are entering classrooms that have never been this full. The elderly wait in vain for caregivers who do not come. A crime is reported to the police and they cannot do anything. Drivers and cyclists are dodging potholes in the streets that increasingly resemble the surface of the moon.

The British state has ceased to operate to the standards we have a right to expect in a developed country like ours. This problem won’t be solved with a single budget, but Reeves seems I realized something had to change. Investing where it is needed most is a vital start. While political opponents and right-wing commentators decry any additional tax increases, the public knows this. Polls show that most voters who want immediate tax cuts want public services to work even if their own taxes go up.

Raising some taxes to invest more in public services is not only the right thing to do, it’s also politically smart. Labor ministers know that, more than anything else, they will be judged on the extent to which they deliver on the change they have promised. If voters are to re-elect a Labor government, they need to start feeling better about themselves; And quickly. Reeves acknowledges this. The decision to increase the minimum wage was announced A 6 percent increase, which is higher than the inflation rate, would help more than a million low-wage workers feel better almost overnight. This is exactly the kind of positive change people will notice.

But if the Government is to convince voters that the country is finally on the rise, boosting bank balances by a few pounds won’t be enough. People also need to feel that it has become easier to get to a GP appointment, send their child to a local school or find suitable housing. They need to see that police officers actually appear, that a transportation system begins to operate in the country, that hospitals are not full. Fixing public services is a key part of the change Labor promises. And money will be needed for this.

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Providing the money was not inevitable. After years of austerity, Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party went into election promising to cut taxes to £17bn a year. With Britain’s public services in crisis, they would probably have to cut their budgets by dangerous amounts to fund their gifts. Reeves takes a much more logical approach.

So there is a risk here. The Chancellor must avoid the temptation to invest in areas that will deliver the quickest and most tangible results. Funding the NHS, for example, could help cut waiting lists in the short term but will not solve the fundamental problems unless accompanied by a modernization program and an appropriate plan to fix social care. Similarly, local councils need a completely new funding formula that will enable them to provide services ranging from road maintenance to assistance. children with special education needsWithout constantly waiting for more handouts from Whitehall. Short-term investment should not come at the expense of long-term change.

The Government has spent the summer warning us about the difficult choices and unwelcome decisions that will be made in this Budget. Some have already been announced, there will undoubtedly be more. But we can’t continue as we are. Everyone sees that the public realm is deteriorated and cannot be fixed cheaply. In this context, Reeves’ careful use of the tax system to get public services back on track is certainly the right approach.

Ben Kentish presents the LBC show Monday to Friday at 10pm and is the former Westminster editor.