A senior Conservative figure has launched a scathing attack on the Chancellor, alleging she deceived the public about Government finances to implement sweeping tax measures.
Speaking on GB News, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart claimed Rachel Reeves had been “caught telling porky pies, and very serious ones at that”.
The accusation centres on the Chancellor’s justification for imposing £26 billion in tax increases following Wednesday’s Budget. Mr Burghart alleged that Ms Reeves misrepresented the state of public finances when she cited a fiscal shortfall as the reason for raising taxes.
“Rachel Reeves told everybody there was a huge hole in the public finances and she was going to have to put up taxes to fill it,” Mr Burghart stated during his television appearance.
The Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster hit out at Rachel Reeves
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GB NEWS
According to the shadow minister, guidance from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) contradicted the Chancellor’s narrative about the nation’s financial position.
“It now turns out the advice she was given by the Office for Budget and Responsibility was completely different,” Mr Burghart declared during his broadcast interview.
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The controversy stems from revelations that emerged on Friday, when the OBR disclosed it had informed the Treasury before the Budget that a £4.2 billion surplus existed, rather than the deficit Reeves had suggested.
This disclosure has fuelled Conservative claims that the Chancellor misled the country. The OBR’s assessment contrasted sharply with Ms Reeves’ November 6 address, where she laid groundwork for tax increases by citing a £16 billion shortfall resulting from downgraded productivity forecasts.
The Chancellor finds herself under fire
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PAMr Burghart contended that the actual motivation behind the tax rises was to finance increased welfare expenditure, not to address any budgetary shortfall.
“The only reason she put up taxes was to increase welfare spending,” he asserted on GB News. The shadow minister suggested this was done to placate Labour’s parliamentary colleagues, stating that taxpayers would have “less money in their pockets in order to pay for welfare rises in order to keep Labour backbenchers happy”.
The Chancellor had announced the lifting of the two-child benefit cap from April, at an estimated cost of £3 billion. Conservative opposition figures have characterised the Budget as one designed for “benefits street”, criticising the emphasis on welfare spending whilst imposing substantial tax burdens on working people.
The shadow minister has taken formal steps to ensure parliamentary scrutiny of the Chancellor’s actions, revealing he has contacted Downing Street directly about the matter.
Mr Burghart delivered a damning assessment of Rachel Reeves’s Budget
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GB NEWS
“I wrote to the Prime Minister today asking him to send Rachel Reeves to the Commons to answer questions on this,” Burghart disclosed during his television appearance.
He emphasised the necessity for the Chancellor to face questioning, asking: “Why didn’t she tell the truth? Why have you put up benefits spending when you previously said it was too expensive to do? We need her to be held to account.”
The demand for Commons accountability reflects escalating Conservative pressure on the government to explain the discrepancy between the Chancellor’s public statements about fiscal constraints and the OBR’s reported assessment of the nation’s finances.
Mr Burghart raised grave concerns about potential legal ramifications, suggesting the Chancellor’s actions could constitute a criminal matter.
“It’s manipulating the market, releasing false information is potentially a very serious offence,” he warned during the GB News interview.
The shadow minister drew parallels with corporate governance standards, stating: “There are serious people in the city saying if this was a private company, people would be fired and potentially facing criminal prosecution.”
He emphasised the severity of the situation, declaring: “This is really serious stuff.”
The allegation that false information may have been disseminated to justify fiscal policy represents an extraordinary escalation in Conservative attacks on the Government’s economic strategy, with Mr Burghart’s warnings about possible criminal implications marking unprecedented territory in political discourse over budgetary matters.