Did Rachel Reeves lie to justify ยฃ26bn Budget raid? Evidence is damnin | Personal Finance | Finance
Rachel Reeves stands accused of misleading the nation. Thatโs a serious allegation. If true, she must surely resign. But can it really be so? The UKโs first ever female chancellor, admired by young girls around the country, telling porkies? Letโs examine the evidence.
On Wednesday, in full view of the nation and with malice aforethought, Reeves delivered her second Budget. In doing so, she inflicted a cruel and injurious assault on the nationโs wellbeing. Basically, she coshed taxpayers over the head and emptied their wallets.
Reeves snatched ยฃ26billion. That was on top of the ยฃ40billion she grabbed in a similar raid last year. This happened around 1pm on November 26. It was daylight robbery.
We know the raid happened, but Reeves insists she had no choice. That she needed the cash to plug a gaping hole in the nationโs books.
And this is where the alleged lie enters the frame. There was no hole. She made it up.
Last night, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published a blow-by-blow account of its discussions with the Treasury before the Budget. And it directly contradicts what Reeves told the country before the Budget.
It suggests Reeves and her Treasury cronies exaggerated a phantom fiscal shortfall to justify picking our collective pockets.
Before the Budget, newspapers were briefed that the government faced a shortfall of ยฃ20billion to ยฃ30billion. But there was no such shortfall.
In a letter to the Treasury committee, OBR chief Richard Hughes revealed that Reeves had โat no pointโ faced a gap of more than ยฃ2.5billion. A serious accusation. And it gets worse.
Hughes confirmed that on October 31, the OBR upgraded its forecasts and told Reeves there was no deficit at all. In truth, she had a ยฃ4.2billion surplus.
Which means she didnโt need to raise a single penny. Her entire Budget justification collapses. The story she told the country was a fabrication, now exposed.
At this point, we must address her character. Is Reeves the type of person who might lie to an entire nation?
I may be of help here, as itโs a question Iโve addressed before. On February 19, 2025, I set out 12 previous examples of deception. Call that Exhibit A. You can read it here but I’ve included some excerpts.
During the election campaign, Reeves assured voters that higher taxes were unnecessary. She then launched the biggest tax raid in decades, and repeated the exercise last Wednesday. Despite knowing it wasn’t necessary.
She repeatedly claimed Labour wouldnโt hike taxes on โworking peopleโ, meaning income tax, national insurance (NI) and VAT. Yet she hiked NI last year and income tax this year, by stealth.
In her defence, Reeves claimed she only discovered a ยฃ22billion โblack holeโ after the election which gave her no choice. Yet Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies shot that down saying: โThat fact was obvious to all who cared to look.โ
After pensioners revolted over the scrapping of the Winter Fuel Payment, Reeves claimed she never wanted to cut it but had been forced into the move. Yet Parliamentary footage shows her boasting about plans to axe it way back in 2014.
Exhibit A also shows how she misled the public about her CV, career history, expenses, plagiarism and even her teenage chess career.
All of this brings her character into serious question. Put simply, she has form. As long as your arm.
Thatโs the case for the prosecution. Weโll see what the defendant โ sorry, Chancellor โ has to say for herself when questioned on tomorrowโs political TV shows. But it doesnโt look good.
