Britain's Treasury chief prepares the ground for a tax-hiking budget

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Treasury chief Rachel Reeves on Tuesday signaled she will raise taxes in her budget this month, arguing that the economy is sicker than the government knew when it took office last year.

Reeves gave a highly unusual speech, three weeks before the Nov. 26 budget, to brace voters and financial markets for the likelihood she will break an election pledge not to increase income taxes or sales tax.

“If we are to build the future of Britain together, we will all have to contribute to that effort,” she said, in a hint at broad tax increases. “Each of us must do our bit for the security of our country and the brightness of its future.”

Reeves cited interest payments on the U.K.’s 2.6 trillion pound ($3.4 trillion) national debt and a lower-than-expected productivity assessment from the government’s economic forecaster as factors behind her decisions.

“The productivity performance that we inherited from the last government is weaker than we first thought,” Reeves said. “We’re putting in more, we’re getting out less.”

On top of that, “the world has thrown even more challenges our way,” including U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, volatile supply chains and a rise in the cost of government borrowing, she said.

While many of the economic challenges are global, Reeves said Britain is especially exposed because of high debt left by “years of economic mismanagement” under the Conservative Party that was in power for 14 years until 2024.

The British economy, the sixth-largest in the world, has underperformed its long-run average since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, and the center-left Labour Party government elected in July 2024 has struggled to deliver the economic growth it promised.

Inflation remains stubbornly high and growth sluggish, frustrating efforts to repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living.

Critics say Reeves has made things worse by being overly downbeat and increasing taxes on businesses in last year’s budget.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch dismissed Reeves' speech as “a laundry list of excuses” that would leave business leaders and investors confused.

Reeves provided no details of what taxes she plans to raise. She said the budget would deliver “growth and fairness” and would focus on strengthening the overstretched public health service, reducing the national debt and getting inflation down to improve the cost of living.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at investment firm AJ Bell, said Reeves was under pressure to make “bolder decisions” on tax.

“Many people believe it is better to sort the situation out once and for all, rather than keep tinkering at the edges," he said. “This feels like Reeves’s last chance to fix the house, otherwise her days could be numbered.”

As well as preparing for a budget with huge implications for the country and government, Reeves has faced criticism after a newspaper reported last week that she had broken the law by renting out her London house without a license from the local authority.

She apologized for what she called an inadvertent mistake, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would not take action.

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivers a speech in the media briefing room of 9 Downing Street, London, Tuesday Nov. 4, 2025. (Justin Tallis/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel delivers a speech in the media briefing room of 9 Downing Street, London, Tuesday Nov. 4, 2025. (Justin Tallis/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves arrives to deliver a speech in the media briefing room of 9 Downing Street, London, Tuesday Nov. 4, 2025. (Justin Tallis/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves takes journalists' questions after delivering a speech in the media briefing room of 9 Downing Street, London, Tuesday Nov. 4, 2025. (Justin Tallis/Pool Photo via AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.

SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.

“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.

It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.

Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.

While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.

NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.

The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule being taken into the recovery vessel after crew members re entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows NASA astronaut Mike Fincke getting helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows NASA Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui being helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows Russian astronaut Oleg Platonov being helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, left, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON shortly after having landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows NASA astronaut Zena Cardman being helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)