Reeves says she did not lie about public finances amid row over deficit claims – UK politics live | Politics
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Reeves was also asked about the decision to scrap the two-child benefit cap from next April, which is estimated to cost £3bn a year by 2029-30.
The move, which comes amid intense pressure from Labor supporters, has been welcomed by campaigners and charities who argue it is the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty.
The two-child limit prevents parents from claiming child tax credit or universal credit for more than two children.
Asked whether the decision to remove the title was in response to pressure from Labor MPs, Rachel Reeves told Trevor Phillips:
We choose children. This, together with our changes to free breakfast clubs, an extension of free school meals, 30 hours of free childcare for working parents and pre-school aged children, is lifting more than half a million children out of poverty…
The people that come to mind are the children I know in my constituency who go to school hungry and sleep in cold and damp homes, and from April next year these parents will have a bit more support to help their children.
Reeves appears to back OBR chief despite watchdog’s shock leak
Rachel Reeves’ much-anticipated budget has been weakened after the Office for Budget Responsibility’s economic forecasts were published online about 40 minutes before she announced her policies in the House of Commons.
Head of the Department of Budget Responsibility, Richard HughesHe said the Chancellor would continue to lead the watchdog unless he lost the confidence of the Treasury Committee or Parliament.
The OBR’s investigation into the leak is expected to report back to the chancellor on Monday.
Asked if Hughes’ position was safe, Reeves said he would review the report’s contents tomorrow but had “great respect” for him and the budget watchdog.
He told Sky News:
We’ll get a report tomorrow, a report showing what happened with that budget leak. He was clearly serious. It was clearly a serious breach of protocol, but I’ll see that report tomorrow.
“Of course I didn’t lie about the budget estimates,” Reeves said
Rachel Reeves says she “of course” did not lie about the state of the public finances ahead of the budget. “Of course I didn’t,” he told Trevor Phillips.
The Chancellor had previously said in his program:
I needed to raise taxes in the context of a £16 billion drop in our productivity, and I was honest and forthright about this in my speech at the beginning of November.
Keir Starmer said on Thursday Reeves’ £26bn tax-raising budget “fits our manifesto” but admitted Labor “asks everyone to contribute” in the coming years.
Rachel Reeves speaks to Trevor Phillips on Sky News. He started by replaying a clip of the Chancellor last year saying Labor would not raise taxes further in the next budget. He says his statements turned out to be untrue.
Reeves defended this year’s budget by saying it was “not on the scale of last year” and added that he had to ask people to “contribute more” because the “context” had changed.
Reeves said the OBR had decided to conduct a productivity review and that the watchdog’s decline in productivity did not reflect anything the Labor government had done.
Chancellor to defend budget amid deepening row over deficit claims
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. Chancellor, Rachel Reeveshas been embroiled in a politically damaging row over what he told the public about the state of the British economy ahead of last week’s budget.
Reeves had claimed that downgrading Britain’s projected economic productivity would make it harder to comply with self-imposed fiscal rules.
In a speech on 4 November, he argued that tax increases were needed because low productivity growth would have “consequences for the public finances”. This was seen by many as an attempt to pave the way for a breach of Labor’s income tax return commitment by increasing rates.
But Office for Budget Responsibility The budget watchdog (OBR) said on Friday that it had informed the Chancellor as early as September 17 that improved tax collections from rising wages and inflation meant the budget deficit was smaller than initially expected, and informed him in October that it had been eliminated entirely.
OBR statement spurs opposition figures to take action Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will investigate whether the Treasury deceived the public. Conservatives charged Reeves with “market abuse,” a civil offense. No 10 denied Reeves misled the public about the country’s finances ahead of the budget.
Prime minister, Keir Starmeris expected to give his backing to the budget in a speech tomorrow, saying it will help ease cost of living pressures and lower inflation, and will reportedly announce plans to go “further and faster” to encourage growth.
Reeves will be questioned about the fight on this morning’s broadcast rounds, so stay tuned for the latest.
