Important events
Reeves was also asked about her decision to scrap the limit on two child benefits from April next year, which is estimated to cost £3 billion a year by 2029-2030.
The move, which came about under intense pressure from Work supporters, has been welcomed by campaigners and charities who claim 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 scrap the cap was a response to pressure from Labor MPs, Rachel Reeves said to Trevor Phillips:
We choose children. This will lift more than half a million children out of poverty, combined with our changes to free breakfast clubs, expanding free school meals, 30 hours of free childcare for working parents and pre-school children…
The people I was thinking of were children who I know in my constituency go to school hungry and go to bed in cold and damp homes, and from April next year those parents will get a little more support to help their children.
Reeves appears to be backing the OBR chief despite the watchdog’s shock leak
Rachel Reeves’ long-awaited budget was undermined following economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility appeared online about 40 minutes before she announced her policy to the House of Commons.
The Chairman of the Office for Budgetary Responsibility, Richard Hugheshas said he will continue to lead the watchdog unless he loses the confidence of the chancellor, the Treasury committee or parliament.
The OBR’s investigation into the leak is expected to be reported to the chancellor on Monday.
Asked whether Hughes’ position is safe, Reeves said she will review the report’s contents tomorrow, but that she has a “tremendous amount of respect” for him and the budget watchdog.
She told Sky News:
Tomorrow we’ll get a report, the report that will look at what happened regarding that budget leak. It was clearly serious. It was clearly a serious breach of protocol, but I’ll review the report tomorrow.
“Of course I didn’t” lie about the budget projections, Reeves said
Rachel Reeves said she had “of course” not lied about the state of the public finances before the budget. “Of course not,” she said to Trevor Phillips.
Earlier the Chancellor had said in his programme:
In the context of a decline in our productivity, which has cost £16 billion, I have had to increase taxes, and I was honest and frank about that in the speech I gave in early November.
Keir Starmer said Thursday that Reeves’ £26 billion tax budget had “stuck to our manifesto” but admitted Labor had “asked everyone to contribute” in the coming years.
Rachel Reeves speaks to Trevor Phillips on Sky News. He started by playing a clip of the chancellor saying last year that Labor would not increase taxes further in a future budget. He says her statements turned out to be untrue.
Reeves defended this year’s budget, saying it was “not on the scale of last year’s”, adding that she had to ask people to “contribute more” because the “context” had changed.
Reeves said the OBR decided to carry out a productivity review and said the watchdog’s cut in productivity did not reflect the Work government had done.
Chancellor defends budget amid growing row over deficit claims
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of British politics. The Chancellor, Rachel Reeveshas become embroiled in a politically damaging row over what it told the public about the state of the UK economy ahead of last week’s budget.
Reeves had claimed that a reduction in Britain’s forecast economic productivity would make it harder to meet self-imposed fiscal rules.
She used a speech on November 4 to suggest that tax increases were necessary because poor productivity growth would “impact public finances”. It was seen by many as an attempt to pave the way for Labor to break its income tax pledge by raising rates.
But the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) – the budget watchdog – said on Friday it had informed the chancellor as early as September 17 that improved tax revenues from rising wages and inflation meant the deficit was likely smaller than initially expected, and told her in October it had been completely eliminated.
The OBR’s disclosure has prompted opposition figures to push for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to investigate whether the Treasury misled the public. The Conservatives have charged Reeves with “market abuse,” which is a civil offence. No. 10 has denied that Reeves misled the public about the state of the country’s finances before the budget.
The Prime Minister, Keir Starmeris expected to give his support to the budget in a speech tomorrow, saying it will help ease pressure on living costs and lower inflation, and reportedly announce plans to go “further and faster” to boost growth.
Reeves will be questioned about the feud during this morning’s broadcast rounds, so stay tuned for the latest developments.
Source link
Politics,Rachel Reeves,Labour,Budget 2025,Keir Starmer,Economic policy,UK news , , #Reeves #didnt #lie #public #finances #row #deficit #claims #British #Politics #Live #Politics, #Reeves #didnt #lie #public #finances #row #deficit #claims #British #Politics #Live #Politics, 1764495215, reeves-says-she-didnt-lie-about-public-finances-amid-row-over-deficit-claims-british-politics-live-politics