Rachel Reeves has denied misleading the public over claims ahead of her Budget, saying she needed to build “more resilience” into the economy

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has defended her Budget measures following a row over her claim that she faced a £20 million gap in meeting her fiscal rules, saying an investigation into the incident wouldn’t be “necessary”.

Reeves repeated claims of the “black hole” in the country’s finances, despite the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) saying it told her as early as September 17 that the shortfall was smaller than first expected.

The OBR later said to her in October it had been eliminated altogether.

Justifying her Budget choices, which raised taxes by a total of £26 billion, Reeves said she needed to build more “headroom” in the economy.

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