RACHEL Reeves warned there are "more difficult decisions" coming in her first Budget later this year.

She also said the decision to axe the winter fuel allowance was necessary, as she visited Glasgow.

She also warned that the ‘pain’, Prime Minister Keir Starmer described was coming, would not be short-lived, stating it would take more than one budget to sort out the public finances.

In an interview with the Glasgow Times, the Chancellor was asked if she really believed pensioners just above the pension credit threshold were those with the broadest shoulders.

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Ms Reeves said: “These weren't decisions that I wanted to make, but they were decisions that were essential to get a grip on the public finances.

“We are working hard to ensure that everybody who's entitled to pension credit gets it because I think it is really important those who receive the means tested pension credit continue to get access to the winter fuel payment and we're working to make sure that everybody that's entitled to that benefit gets it and the winter fuel payment associated with it.”

She added: “When I became Chancellor, we inherited a £22 billion black hole in the public finances.

“Not for some year in the future, but for this financial year and not acting was not an option.”

She said the upcoming budget on October 30 will “involve more difficult decisions".

Reeves added:  "Those decisions will be around tax, spending and welfare and we will ensure that those with the broader shoulders bear more of the burden”.

The Chancellor said: “I wish that wasn't the case. I wish the inheritance was different, but I have to deal with the inheritance that I've been left by the Conservative government, who after 14 years left a situation where they had covered up spending of £22 billion.

“Spending that they had no idea how they were going to pay for it and they've fled the scene.

“And it's now up to the Labour government to fix the mess, to fix the foundation so we can rebuild Britain and make working people better off.”

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Ms Reeves warned that the process will be longer than this year alone.

She said: “That's not something we're going to be able to do all in one budget, but we'll make a start.”

She added: “We're not going to be able to fix 14 years of economic stagnation and deterioration of public services in one budget, but we're going to make a start on that.

“The Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has spoken about the decade of national renewal that's being open and honest about the scale of the challenge that we have inherited.”

The Chancellor said that the Scottish Government needs to be “honest” about the public finances too.

(Image: PA)

Asked if she agreed her decisions will mean budget cuts for Scotland she said she wants to work with John Swinney, who she met on her visit, to grow the economy.

Reeves said: “When I came into office, I wanted to be really open and transparent in the way that my predecessors haven't been about the scale of the challenges in our public finances.

“I think it's really important that the government in Scotland as well as the government for the United Kingdom is open and honest about the scale of the financial pressures on public spending and on the public finances.

“And then we need to work together to grow the economy, to bring good jobs both to Scotland and across the United Kingdom.

“There are huge opportunities to grow the economy here in Scotland.

“I'm determined to work with industry and with the Scottish Government to realise the potential we've got.

“It is through creating good quality jobs that pay decent wages and bringing investment into Scotland that we can lift living standards and have money for the things that this Labour government want to deliver, whether it is more doctors and nurses in our National Health Service, more teachers in our schools, more police in our frontline public services or indeed lifting people out of poverty.”

The Chancellor visited JP Morgan and Scottish Power offices in Glasgow and  the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland in Renfrewshire during a visit to Scotland.