British finance minister Rachel Reeves said on Monday the world had changed since she last pledged not to raise taxes, paving the way for a November budget in which she acknowledged that tough choices needed to be made to keep to her fiscal rules.

Ahead of a speech at the governing Labour Party’s conference on Monday, she told the BBC that pledges not to raise income or VAT sales taxes stood, but hinted that some tax increases would be necessary at the next fiscal event on November 26.

Asked whether she could repeat a statement she made to businesses last November that she was not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes, Reeves said: “I think everyone can see the world has changed, and we’re not immune to that change.”

She cited U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, global conflicts and a possible productivity downgrade by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) as impacting the outlook.

“We have to respond to those… it’s very important that we maintain those commitments to economic stability,” she told the BBC.

“I wish it wasn’t so, but I am Chancellor in the world as it is, not in the world that I might wish it to be.”

Reeves also said she wanted the OBR to shift to providing only one set of budget forecasts a year, rather than a mid-year update as well – which earlier this year required government action to keep government budget goals on track.

After a first year in power marred by missteps and resignations, Labour trails the populist Reform UK party in surveys, and is under pressure to improve living standards without breaking its self-imposed fiscal discipline.

On Monday, Reeves will announce that every young person who receives Universal Credit benefit payments for 18 months without “earning or learning” will be guaranteed an offer of paid work.

Lawmakers on Labour’s left are pressing Reeves to find money for measures such as tackling child poverty, but she has vowed to stick to a pledge to balance the day-to-day budget by 2029, wary of putting large investors off buying or holding UK debt.

Some Labour lawmakers want to end a cap that limits child benefits to two children only, which would cost some 3.5 billion pounds ($4.7 billion) a year. Starmer has already reversed cuts to disability support and fuel subsidies that would have saved about 6 billion pounds a year.

In her first budget, less than a year ago, Reeves announced the biggest tax increases in 30 years. But more rises – possibly almost as big – are expected in her next one on November 26, worrying employers, who fear they might be in her sights again.

Government borrowing costs are already elevated; the 30-year UK gilt yield hit its highest since 1998 in early September.

Despite having the fastest growth in the Group of Seven countries in the first half, Britain’s economy is forecast to expand by less than 1.5% in 2025, and inflation looks likely to hit 4% in September, double the Bank of England’s target.