Tories to call on Chancellor to apologise for ‘misleading’ over the Budget

Rachel Reeves should apologise for “misleading the country” about the public finances in the run-up to the Budget, the House of Commons is to hear.

The Conservative Party will also call on MPs to join them in criticising the Chancellor for introducing £26 billion worth of tax rises in the November 26 Budget which they say breaks a promise in Labour’s manifesto.

A Tory-led debate in the Commons on Wednesday afternoon will see the party use a parliamentary process known as a censure motion to call on Ms Reeves to apologise for how the Budget unfolded.

It will come after Ms Reeves is expected to face a grilling by a cross-party group of MPs on the Commons Treasury Committee the same morning.

The Chancellor has faced questions about whether she misled the public about Government spending in the wake of the Budget after a letter from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) contested her narrative that she needed to raise taxes to fill a so-called financial “black hole”.

The OBR’s pre-Budget forecasting instead suggested Ms Reeves’ spending plans would run a surplus because of changing economic headwinds.

The Chancellor’s critics have attacked her suggestions the public finances were in poor health ahead of the Budget and accused her of largely raising taxes to address increased benefit spending after she scrapped the two-child benefit cap.

In its censure motion, the Conservative Party is expected to ask “that this House calls on the Chancellor to apologise for misleading the country about the state of the public finances, rolling the pitch for raising taxes, breaking her promises and increasing welfare spending”.

The Tories also call on the Chancellor “to apologise for breaching the trust of the OBR, whose forecasts are shared in strict confidence” after the watchdog’s economic and fiscal outlook – a major analysis of the Budget – was released early.

It also said Ms Reeves should apologise for “misleading briefings and leaks from the Treasury which caused uncertainty for families, businesses and investors”, as well as for “breaking her promise after the last Budget that the Government was not going to raise taxes again, and instead raising taxes at the Budget by £26 billion”.

Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: “Rachel Reeves has repeatedly misled the British public. She promised she wouldn’t raise taxes on working people – and then she did. She insisted there was a black hole in the public finances – and there wasn’t.”

Sir Mel accused Ms Reeves of putting “party before country” and said his party was “giving MPs the chance to formally censure the Chancellor and call on her to apologise to families across the country”.

He added: “Labour simply doesn’t have the backbone to take the tough decisions Britain needs. Only the Conservatives have a plan to cut welfare, cut tax, back business and get Britain working again.”