Trust in the Chancellor's Financial Plans

The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is standing firm on her financial decisions, despite critics saying she misled the public before the Budget. She insists she's been honest about her choices and can be trusted with the country's money. In a recent interview, Reeves was asked why she kept talking about a possible downgrade in the UK's economic productivity. It turns out, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had told her in September that the public finances were actually in better shape than people thought. When asked if she misled the public, Reeves said no. She said she had been open about her plans and decisions. The Conservatives, however, aren't convinced. Their leader, Kemi Badenoch, said Reeves should resign. They think Reeves made the public finances seem worse than they were to justify raising taxes. Badenoch said Reeves lied to the public and should step down. But Downing Street disagrees. They say Reeves didn't mislead anyone. The Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, is expected to support her Budget decisions in a speech. He'll say her choices will help with the cost of living and lower inflation. Reeves explained that she didn't have extra money to play with. The OBR's figures had dropped from £9. 9bn in spring to £4. 2bn in autumn. She said she couldn't deliver a Budget with just £4. 2bn. That would have been the smallest surplus ever, and she would have been criticized for it. She wanted to build up resilience, so she made decisions to increase the headroom to £21. 7bn. When asked if she exaggerated the situation to raise welfare spending, Reeves said she also had to consider policy choices made in the previous six months. She said she was upfront about needing to find money for those policies in the Budget. She also talked about scrapping the two-child benefit limit, which was funded by increases in online gambling taxes and cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion. This decision lifted half a million children out of poverty. Reeves admitted she didn't mention freezing income tax thresholds in the manifesto. But she said there had been a significant downgrade in the productivity forecast and huge global turbulence. She had to respond to these changes to keep control of the public finances. If she didn't, the country would be punished by financial markets and higher interest rates, affecting every business and family with a mortgage. Badenoch wasn't satisfied with Reeves' explanation. She said Reeves should have cut welfare spending instead. She urged Reeves to resign, saying she raised taxes to pay for welfare, hurting hardworking people. Badenoch also mentioned that her shadow chancellor had written a letter to the Financial Conduct Authority, asking for an investigation into Reeves' actions.