Starmer denies chancellor misled public before Budget

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted there was “no misleading” by his chancellor after she was accused of lying about Britain’s finances in the run-up to the Budget, with questions growing over his own future.

- DAVID MADDOX POLITICAL EDITOR

The prime minister took the unusual step of coming out fighting with a speech just five days after Rachel Reeves delivered the Budget, as he faced a barrage of questions over whether he authorised her to mislead the public over the true state of the economy.

The row centres on a press conference given by Ms Reeves in November, in which she warned of the state of the public finances and suggested that income tax may have to go up.

It has since emerged that she failed to reveal information from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that showed tax receipts were much better than expected, ahead of her announcing £26bn worth of tax rises at the Budget.

However, with demands for the chancellor to quit over allegedly misleading the public, the only person to resign was OBR chair Richard Hughes yesterday evening. This came hours after a damning internal investigation was published into how the organisation inadvertently leaked the Budget details before Ms Reeves delivered her speech in the Commons last Wednesday.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Ms Reeves was using Mr Hughes as a “human shield” - after claiming she had “lied to the public” - and should be sacked.

The PM, speaking 24 hours after Ms Reeves denied lying over the state of the public finances before the Budget, was repeatedly forced to come out on the defensive as he gave a speech highlighting the “moral mission” of his government in tackling child poverty.

He said: “There was no misleading, and I simply don’t accept - and I was receiving the numbers - that being told that the OBR productivity review means you've got £16bn less than you would otherwise have had shows that you’ve got an easy starting point.