A senior cabinet minister has robustly defended Chancellor Rachel Reeves against claims she misled colleagues over the state of the public finances to justify tax increases.
‘Not Misled in the Slightest’
Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, Darren Jones, stated he did not feel deceived by the chancellor "in the slightest". This follows allegations reported in The Times that some ministers felt Ms Reeves did not present "the reality" of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts during cabinet discussions.
Speaking on Sky News' Mornings with Ridge and Frost, Mr Jones asserted the chancellor was "right all the way through that we needed to raise more money than was available... through the OBR forecast".
The Budget and the OBR Forecast Dispute
The controversy stems from the budget delivered on Wednesday 26 November 2025, in which Ms Reeves announced a record-breaking £26bn in tax rises. The government, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, had spent weeks warning that dire public finances necessitated breaking manifesto pledges.
However, two days after the budget, the OBR took the unusual step of publishing the figures it sent to the Treasury. These revealed that, contrary to suggestions of a significant deficit, the OBR had informed the chancellor on 31 October that the spending gap had closed and the government would be running a £4.2bn surplus.
By the day of the budget, 26 November, the OBR's forecast stated the fiscal headroom had risen to £21.7bn.
Defence and Political Fallout
Mr Jones defended the chancellor's approach, arguing the OBR's core calculations did not account for necessary fiscal headroom. He stated Ms Reeves had been "very clear" this buffer needed to be increased from £10bn to over £20bn to safeguard against future economic shocks.
"The chancellor was very clear we needed more [headroom] than we've had in the past," Mr Jones said. "That means that if there's a shock in the future, we have more cash put aside to be able to respond to it."
Despite this defence, Ms Reeves faces intense political pressure. Opposition parties have accused her of misleading both voters and financial markets, demanding she answer an urgent question in parliament. When directly asked by Sky's Trevor Phillips on Sunday if she had lied, the chancellor replied: "Of course I didn't."
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to further defend the budget decisions in a speech on Monday 1 December, framing it as part of the government's "programme of national renewal".
