Starmer to back Budget amid row over Reeves’ deficit claims

Opposition figures have called for the City watchdog to investigate pre-Budget briefings about the fiscal shortfall.

Sir Keir Starmer will back the Budget while acknowledging the Government must go “further and faster” on growth, as Downing Street dismissed claims Rachel Reeves misled voters over the scale of the fiscal challenge as “categorically untrue”.

The Chancellor will face fresh scrutiny on Sunday’s media round over what she told the public and markets about the state of the economy.

It comes amid a growing row over pre-Budget speculation that she faced as much as a £20 billion gap in meeting her fiscal rules, partly as a result of a downgrade in productivity forecasts.

Those rumours were fuelled by Ms Reeves when she used a speech on November 4 to suggest tax rises were needed