Reeves denies she misled public over UK's finances prior to Budget

Following allegations that she deceived the public in the run-up to her Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she can be trusted with the country's finances and has been clare about the reasons for her decisions. Reeves was asked repeatedly in an interview with Laura Kuenssberg of BBC One that she had repeatedly warned about a downgrade to the UK's economic growth estimates. The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) told her in mid-September that the public budget were in better shape than previously expected, and it has since emerged. When pressed on the subject, she said she did not accept that it was misleading and that she had remained upfront about all her plans, both in the last week and the run-up to the general election. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader who was also on the show, said she was not content with the chancellor's denial and told her to resign, and that she should resigned

The Conservatives have accused the Chancellor of giving an overly cautious view of the public budget as a smokescreen to raise taxes, and Badenoch said Reeves had

lied to the public. In a speech on Monday, Downing Street has denied deceive the public and Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to support her budget decisions, saying that the chancellor's actions would help combat rising living pressures and lower inflation. Kuenssberg asked Reeves whether she could be trusted, and the chancellor replied:

Yes. Kuenssberg then outlined what the chancellor had said in a speech on Friday, when Reeves said there was less cash than ever expected due to a productivity decline, and she was likely to have to raise taxes as a result. Despite what critics were saying, Reeves said that I didn't have an extra 4 billion to play with and that the OBR figures had been downgraded from £9. 9bn headroom in spring to £4. 2bn in the autumn.

I was certain that with just £4 I could not produce a budget.

The lowest chancellor ever delivered

would have been 2bn of headroom, she said, and she'd

rightly

have been chastised for the headroom's being too small.

I was clear that I wanted to build up that strength," she said, which is why she made those decisions to raise the headroom to £21. 7bn.

Reeves said she had exaggerated the situation in order to pave the way for a £16 billion increase in welfare, but she had to factor in policy choices made in the previous six months on welfare and the Winter Fuel Allowance, rather than exaggating the situation.

I did say when those policies were changed just before the summer, we would have to find the funds in the Budget,

she said.

Yes, I did make the decision to scrap the two-child [benefit] ceiling in the Budget, but also by tightening the lid on tax avoidance and tax evasion, which was partially funded and fully funded, and also by increasing the two children out of poverty. Reeves said,

I admit I did not mention it in the manifesto, if not the letter,

she said, but since then we've seen both a significant decline in the productivity forecast and also significant global turbulence.

I have to respond to all of those things because, if I were to lose sight of the public budget, we would be punished. "Punished by financial markets that hold £2. The country has 6tn of public debt, which will also impact every single company that borrows and every single family that has a mortgage.

Badenoch, who appeared on the same program, said she was completely not satisfied with Reeves' explanation and that she should have reduced welfare spending rather than being dissatisfied. She urged the chancellor to quit.

The chancellor called an emergency press conference to inform everyone about how dire the finances were, and the OBR has told her the exact opposite,

she said.

She was raising taxes to pay for welfare, and the only thing that was unfunded was her welfare contributions, and she's doing it on the backs of a lot of people out there who are working extremely hard and getting poorer,

she says.

Badenoch's shadow chancellor Mel Stride has written a letter of complaint to the Financial Conduct Authority, alleging that the chancelor of trying to

pitchroll for her Budget,a move that could bemarket manipulation.

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