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Exclusive: Labor's Rachel Reeves says she wants to 'break' glass ceilings and end the gender pay gap Related: Rachel Reeves says Britain can no longer afford a Conservative government Britain "should be ashamed" that it has never had a female chancellor, said the woman taking office for the first time.
Unlike other countries, the UK has never had a female chancellor in 800 years, Reeves said.
"Britain should be ashamed that we have never had a woman in this superior financial position here," she said.
In a wide-ranging interview, he also said that the current version of the infamous "no money left" memo would be more of an "apology" for impoverishing the British.
And he criticized the government's pension tax changes, which he says would only benefit those whose jackpots are 10 times the UK average.
Describing an electoral divide between Tories and Labour, he vowed to reverse what he calls Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's "gift to the rich".
Rachel Reeves hopes to become the UK's first female chancellor
New Labor's analysis of the ONS data found the median private pension to be just over £110,000, while Hunt removed the tax-free cap for those who have more than £1.07m.
Ms Reeves accused Rishi Sunak's government of spending money like "confetti" and said an honest Conservative Treasury minister leaving a written message to a new Labor government would "apologize", she said.
She said the note would say: “'We have impoverished people and what do we have to show in return? Utilities on their knees.
Earlier this month, Greg Hands, the new Tory speaker, tweeted a photo of the now infamous note, left in 2010 by outgoing Treasury Labor Secretary Liam Byrne, which read: "I'm afraid 'no money' ". '
But a recent focus group with voters in Swindon found that the memo appeared to be losing political power and was in danger of failing, according to organizers at More in Common.
Shadow Chancellor Mrs Reeves with Labor leader Keir Starmer
Reeves also accused Hunt, hired to stabilize the ship after last year's disastrous mini-budget, of continuing to make problems worse.
“It's a bit like someone digging a hole and now doing it a little slower than before. And so the problem keeps getting worse.
He highlighted warnings about falling living standards, saying: "Things are getting even worse for people." They may not have used this budget to crash the economy. But people continue to see their standard of living deteriorate.
On the prospect of becoming the first female Chancellor, she said: “There has been a Finance Minister for just over 800 years, and they have always been men.
“And I think if you look at the history of women in parliament, it's always been women who have championed issues that have improved women's lives.
“Whether it's Barbara Castle and equal pay… Harriet Harman on tax credits. The history of women in parliament has been to stand up for women.
Ms Reeves accused Rishi Sunak's government of spending money like 'confetti'
He commissioned former TUC chief Francis O'Grady to do a review for Labor on the gender pay gap, more than 50 years after equal pay legislation.
“I want to be the chancellor who will close this pay gap between men and women,” she said.
She said she was determined to have a child care system that works for working parents "and especially mothers" and to be a "role model" for young women.
"There's never been a female chancellor, there's never been a Bank of England governor, there's never been a permanent Treasury secretary and I want to be the person to change this," she said.
He said "tremendous progress" has been made, "but there are still glass ceilings that I want to break."
She said she wanted to see "women at the top from all walks of life."
She added: “That top finance position, the chancellor, has always been held by a man. But if you look at France, they've had a finance secretary, America has... Britain should be ashamed that we've never had a finance secretary here.
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