Reeves has already 'spent £3bn of £22bn headroom'

Fears have been raised that Rachel Reeves may have already spent up to £3bn of the £22bn headroom she gave herself in the Budget in just six weeks.

- DAVID MADDOX POLITICAL EDITOR

Tory shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride is pressing the chancellor to “come clean” over whether her spring statement in March will change into a mini-Budget after a flurry of U-turns and concessions since she delivered her Budget on 26 November.

It comes amid conflicting claims over how much a U-turn on scrapping the Covid business rate relief will cost the Exchequer.

Treasury sources have suggested that it could be £300m with the help focused on pubs, but other sources have suggested the bill could be as much as £2.4bn. The discrepancy lies in the confusion over whether the U-turn will cover pubs alone or other parts of the high street as well.

Yesterday, Labour rebel Rachael Maskell added her voice to those demanding that high street shops and cafes were also covered.

She told Times Radio: “I think the reason we’re hearing so much about pubs is pubs have a very strong lobby and have been able to get that message through to the government. But it is hitting other parts of the sector, the hotel part of the sector, leisure, tourism, as well as what I’ve just been talking about, the retail sector as well. And little independent shops perhaps don’t have the routes into Westminster.”