𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Rachel Reeves has been skewered for giving viewers an answer that will make them “fall asleep in their cornflakes”.

The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg interrupted the Chancellor while she was responding to a question about the Budget during a show on Sunday morning.

The presenter was pressing Ms Reeves on the impression she gave before the Budget that she had “no choice” but to heap taxes on Britons because the economy was “short on cash”

Ms Reeves answered by saying her priorities were to cut waiting lists in the NHS, cut the cost of living and slash debt and borrowing.

That is when Ms Kuenssberg made the comment about cornflakes.

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 because poor productivity growth would have “consequences for the public finances”.

But the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on Friday said it had informed the Chancellor as early as September 17 that an improved tax take from growing wages and inflation meant the shortfall was likely smaller than initially expected, and told her in October it had been eliminated altogether.

The OBR’s disclosure has prompted opposition figures to urge the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to investigate whether the Treasury deceived the public.

Downing Street rallied around Ms Reeves, with a source saying: “No 10 was aware of the content of the speech, which we believe entirely accurately outlined the need to raise revenues.

“The idea that there was any misleading going on about the need to raise significant revenue as a result of the OBR figures, including the productivity downgrade they contained, is categorically untrue.”

The source also said No 10 was aware of the OBR figures “which showed the need for significant revenue-raising to meet our commitments and to achieve the desired headroom.

“Those figures reflected the OBR’s productivity downgrade. The right choices were then made to stabilise public finances through greater headroom, reduce energy bills and tackle child poverty.”

They said the OBR forecast had not accounted for increases in spending resulting from the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap and U-turns on winter fuel payments and welfare cuts.

In an attempt to move the agenda on, Sir Keir will use a speech on Monday to support the decisions taken by Ms Reeves in the Budget and set out his long-term growth plans.