Reeves on the brink after 'misleading' public with 'smoke and mirrors' over £20bn Budget black hole The Chancellor has been accused of using 'smoke and mirrors' to justify tax hikes in her Autumn Budget Rachel Reeves has been accused of giving the public a misleading picture of the nation’s finances while preparing a £30 billion tax increase - to protect herself and the Prime Minister. Tensions escalated between the Chancellor and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on Friday night after the watchdog released a detailed account of its conversations with the Treasury ahead of this week’s Budget. The Chancellor had repeatedly talked down the state of the nation's finances in the build-up to her fiscal statement on Wednesday. According to the OBR, recent comments from Reeves and her team overstated the size of the fiscal gap, setting the stage for her planned tax rises and changes to welfare spending. She placed the blame on Brexit, Tory austerity and Donald Trump for a downgrade to the UK's predicted economic productivity, which would therefore make it harder to meet her own spending rules. The positions of both Ms Reeves and Richard Hughes, the OBR chairman, came under scrutiny after the Treasury criticised his decision to reveal the “private space” in which officials discuss forecasts and assess policy impacts. https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/chancellor-rachel-reeves-budget-latest-5HjdNd2_2/

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Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
Reeves On The Brink After Lying About Fiscal Gap In Order To Raise Taxes	29/11/25 15:58:00	Sue Hammond
Re:Reeves On The Brink After Lying About Fiscal Gap In Order To Raise Taxes	29/11/25 17:20:00	Andy Pike

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