这份缩水的福利法案最初旨在节约55亿英镑，如今却可能给政府留下约55亿英镑的财政缺口——几乎要突破财政大臣去年制定的财政规则底线。

雷切尔·里夫斯暗示，在政府对颇具争议的福利法案作出重大政策转向后，今年秋季很可能将提高税收。

基尔·斯塔默爵士提出的《全民信贷与个人独立支付法案》在经历多次让步并面临重大党内叛乱威胁后，于周二在下议院获得通过。

英国议会最终仅通过了该计划的一部分：自2026/27年度起，将新申请者的全民统一福利金（UC）疾病补助从每周97英镑削减至50英镑。

该计划最初旨在节省55亿英镑，如今却给政府留下约55亿英镑的财政缺口——几乎触及里夫斯女士去年制定的财政规则红线。

财政大臣在接受《卫报》采访时并未排除今年晚些时候增税的可能性，并表示削减福利法案会带来“代价”。

英国财政大臣雷切尔·里夫斯向媒体表示：“我不会排除增税的可能性，因为对财政大臣而言，这样做是不负责任的。”

我们在去年作出决定，为无资金支持的承诺和经济管理不善画上句号。

因此我们再也不必采取类似行动，但已发生之事仍需付出代价。

与此同时，《泰晤士报》报道称，在下议院就福利法案进行投票前，里夫斯女士向内阁部长们表示，作出让步的决定将意味着不得不提高税收。

该媒体报道称，财政大臣表示此次增税幅度将小于2024年预算案中公布的规模，但预计仍需额外筹集数百亿资金。

此前，里夫斯女士在首相问答环节含泪表态后表示，她“完全”有能力继续担任财政大臣。

保守党领袖凯米·巴德诺赫在首相问答环节中批评基尔爵士在福利改革上的立场反复，称财政大臣看起来"极度沮丧"，并质疑她是否会留任至下次大选。

基尔爵士并未明确表态她会留任，而巴德诺赫女士插话道：“财政大臣竟无法确认她的留任，这真是太糟糕了。”

事件发生后，里夫斯女士首次发表评论时表示，自己当时度过了"艰难的一天"，随后补充道："人们看到我情绪低落，但那已是昨日之事。"

新的一天开始了，我正全力以赴投入工作。

基尔爵士周四还告诉天空新闻政治编辑贝丝·里格比，他"没有注意到"里夫斯女士在下议院哭泣。

他说道：“首相问答环节总是这样，一连串的唇枪舌战，昨天也是如此。”

因此，我大概是最后一个注意到议事厅里其他情况的人，这只是个直白的人之常情，常识性的解释。

Initially aimed at saving 055.5bn, the watered-down welfare bill now leaves the government with an estimated 055.5bn black hole - close to breaching the chancellor's fiscal rules set out last year.

Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government's controversial welfare bill.

Sir Keir Starmer's Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.

MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from 0597 a week to 0550 from 2026/7.

Initially aimed at saving 055.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated 055.5bn black hole - close to breaching Ms Reeves's fiscal rules set out last year.

In an interview with The Guardian , the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were "costs" to watering down the welfare bill.

"I'm not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that," Ms Reeves told the outlet.

"We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.

"So we'll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened."

Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.

The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.

It comes after Ms Reeves said she was "totally" up to continuing as chancellor after appearing tearful at Prime Minister's Questions.

Criticising Sir Keir for the U-turns on benefit reform during PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked "absolutely miserable" , and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.

Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: "How awful for the chancellor that he couldn't confirm that she would stay in place."

In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a "tough day" before adding: "People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.

"Today's a new day and I'm just cracking on with the job."

Sir Keir also told Sky News' political editor Beth Rigby on Thursday that he "didn't appreciate" that Ms Reeves was crying in the Commons.

"In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang," he said. "That's what it was yesterday.

"And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that's just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation."