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Starmer pledges strong support for chancellor’s pro-growth budget
(MENAFN) Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer plans to back Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget in a speech on Monday, pledging that the government will go "further and faster" with measures aimed at boosting growth.
He will highlight that Reeves’s statement will help ease cost-of-living pressures, reduce inflation, and maintain economic stability.
The move comes amid scrutiny over whether the Treasury fully disclosed the state of public finances ahead of the Budget. Conservatives have argued that Reeves misled the public by presenting a gloomier economic outlook than official forecasts suggested.
No 10 has rejected claims that Reeves misled voters, defending her statement. Despite the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) downgrading growth projections for next year, Starmer is expected to say that "economic growth is beating forecasts," while stressing the need for further encouragement of investment.
The prime minister will also promise to cut "unnecessary red tape" in infrastructure after a report identified the UK as the most expensive country to build nuclear power projects. He will call for reforms and urgent changes to what he describes as "fundamentally misguided environmental regulation," with Business Secretary Peter Kyle tasked with applying these lessons more broadly.
Starmer’s speech, just days after the Budget, comes amid public debate over the government’s economic strategy. Downing Street maintains that the statement was pre-planned.
The controversy follows a letter from the OBR chairman revealing that he informed the chancellor on 17 September that public finances were stronger than generally understood.
Conservatives claim Reeves used a pessimistic portrayal as a "smokescreen" to justify tax increases, with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch stating Reeves had "lied to the public" and should be dismissed.
A Treasury spokesperson said: "We are not going to get into the OBR's processes or speculate on how that relates to the internal decision making in the build up to a Budget, but the chancellor made her choices to cut the cost of living, cut hospital waiting lists and double headroom to cut the cost of our debt."
Both Reeves and Badenoch are scheduled to discuss the Budget on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
He will highlight that Reeves’s statement will help ease cost-of-living pressures, reduce inflation, and maintain economic stability.
The move comes amid scrutiny over whether the Treasury fully disclosed the state of public finances ahead of the Budget. Conservatives have argued that Reeves misled the public by presenting a gloomier economic outlook than official forecasts suggested.
No 10 has rejected claims that Reeves misled voters, defending her statement. Despite the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) downgrading growth projections for next year, Starmer is expected to say that "economic growth is beating forecasts," while stressing the need for further encouragement of investment.
The prime minister will also promise to cut "unnecessary red tape" in infrastructure after a report identified the UK as the most expensive country to build nuclear power projects. He will call for reforms and urgent changes to what he describes as "fundamentally misguided environmental regulation," with Business Secretary Peter Kyle tasked with applying these lessons more broadly.
Starmer’s speech, just days after the Budget, comes amid public debate over the government’s economic strategy. Downing Street maintains that the statement was pre-planned.
The controversy follows a letter from the OBR chairman revealing that he informed the chancellor on 17 September that public finances were stronger than generally understood.
Conservatives claim Reeves used a pessimistic portrayal as a "smokescreen" to justify tax increases, with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch stating Reeves had "lied to the public" and should be dismissed.
A Treasury spokesperson said: "We are not going to get into the OBR's processes or speculate on how that relates to the internal decision making in the build up to a Budget, but the chancellor made her choices to cut the cost of living, cut hospital waiting lists and double headroom to cut the cost of our debt."
Both Reeves and Badenoch are scheduled to discuss the Budget on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
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