The Prime Minister has today described the UK Government’s Autumn Budget as a “moment of personal pride” as Chancellor Rachel Reeves battles claims that she misled the public in the lead-up.

The Chancellor has come under fire, facing accusations that she lied about the state of the public finances, suggesting they were worse than they really were.

On November 4, Reeves alluded to tax rises in a pre-Budget speech, stating she would make the “necessary choices”.

She said the UK’s productivity performance was “weaker than previously thought”, but a letter from the OBR to MPs on Friday has drawn criticism, challenging this narrative.

This follows the unprecedented leak of Wednesday’s Budget online before the Treasury chief had a chance to deliver it herself.

The Prime Minister’s Defence

The Chancellor announced that the two-child benefit cap will be scrapped from next April, a decision that, in a speech on welfare reform, Sir Keir Starmer said was met with cheers by hospital staff.

He added that the move is a public services and fairness issue which will help to lift pressure off the NHS.

“Back on track.”

The Prime Minister says he’s “proud” that Labour scrapped the cap and raised the minimum wage, which he claims will make life better for working families.

Starmer defended the Chancellor, agreeing that she made the changes needed in this Budget. He said that the only other alternative would have been to cut public services, ignore child poverty or to borrow more.

Kemi Badenoch’s Criticism

Speaking to business leaders at an event in London, however, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Labour of thinking that “money grows on trees” as she repeated her claims that Reeves’ announcement was a “Budget for benefits”.

On the allegations that the Chancellor misled the public about the state of UK finances, Badenoch says she “appears to have given false information deliberately to try and get her Budget a soft-landing”.

The Tory leader added that a company CEO would be sacked if they had done it, which supports the Conservative Party’s calls for an investigation.

She repeated her calls for Reeves to resign, adding, “we see issues around financial probits and market abuse”.

Contrary to the Prime Minister’s claims over alternatives, Badenoch says that government ministers have “given up even trying to find growth,” and that Labour will “pretend” that decisions in the Autumn Budget were the only options they had.

The Budget Seen As “Progress”

Looking back at the progress he believes his government has made since coming into power, the Prime Minister says that ministers have slashed borrowing quicker than any other G7 country, cut the cost of living, and increased wages and economic growth.

He insists that Britain is now “back on track” and we will see the benefits of the Budget next year within communities, as well as national statistics.

Starmer says the perceived progress is a “record to be proud of”.