There’s also been growing speculation over the pre-budget speech Rachel Reeves gave last month, with the chancellor being asked on Sky News over the weekend whether she had lied to the public ahead of the autumn statement, which she denied.
That speech on November 4, which was a pretty unusual thing for a chancellor to do, saw Reeves make an appeal to the British public to back her budget and declined to reiterate Labour’s manifesto pledge against broad-based tax hikes.
However, after the OBR’s forecasts that were given to the chancellor ahead of the budget were revealed last week, it was clear Reeves already knew she would meet her fiscal rules at the time of that speech. Therefore, some opposition politicians have made accusations that Reeves misled the British public, our colleagues report.