𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Rachel Reeves has announced that she will present her autumn Budget on Wednesday November 26.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has been given the required 10 weeks’ notice to provide an independent forecast.

The Chancellor said the economy is “not working well enough” and that there is “more to do”.

In a video on X, the Chancellor said: “Britain’s economy isn’t broken. But I know it’s not working well enough for working people.

“Bills are high. Getting ahead feels tougher. You put more in, get less out. That has to change.”

She said that “fixing the foundations” has been her mission for the past year and touted Government action including trade deals with the US, India and the EU and making a start on tearing up planning rules to reach the target to build 1.5 million homes.

“But I’m not satisfied,” she said. “There’s more to do. Cost-of-living pressures are still real.

“And we must bring inflation and borrowing costs down by keeping a tight grip on day-to-day spending through our non-negotiable fiscal rules. It’s only by doing this can we afford to do the things we want to do.

“If renewal is our mission and growth is our challenge. Investment and reform are our tools. The tools to building an economy that works for you – and rewards you. More pounds in your pocket. An NHS there when you need it. Opportunity for all.

“Those are my priorities. The priorities of the British people. And it is what I am determined to deliver.”

The Chancellor will seek to prioritise reducing inflation, keeping public spending under control by meeting her fiscal rules and kick-starting economic growth, it is understood.

She is expected to make a series of public announcements on productivity before the Budget.

The Chancellor is under increasing pressure as Britain’s long-term borrowing costs continued to surge higher on Wednesday, hitting fresh 27-year highs, while the pound also remained under pressure.

Worries are mounting over the UK’s finances before the Budget, with concerns that Ms Reeves will be forced to hike taxes and slash spending to balance the books.

The scale of the challenge facing the Chancellor was illustrated by the NIESR economic think tank saying last month that Ms Reeves was set for a £41 billion shortfall on her self-imposed rule of balancing day-to-day spending with tax receipts in 2029-30.

Analysts have put the weakness in the UK bond market down to a reaction to the Prime Minister’s reshuffle of his Downing Street team this week.

Sir Keir Starmer moved the Chancellor’s deputy, Darren Jones, into a new role as chief secretary to the Prime Minister, a change some have interpreted as a blow to Ms Reeves’ authority.

But No 10 on Tuesday insisted the Chancellor’s role had not been diminished, saying Sir Keir and Ms Reeves spoke “at length over the summer about how these changes would bolster their joint approach to the growth agenda”.