OBR chair Richard Hughes resigns after leak ‘inflicted heavy damage’ on watchdog December 1, 2025 The chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) Richard Hughes has resigned after a report provided a damning assessment of management at the top of the fiscal watchdog after it leaked its fiscal report before the Budget. Hughes, who has faced pressure from the government since the leak, said he was taking full responsibility [...]
Leak and Let Die: OBR calls in former spook to investigate early Budget release November 27, 2025 The embattled Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has brought in a former top spook to investigate how its entire forecast was published early before Rachel Reeves stood up to deliver the Budget. Alongside the watchdog’s oversight board, Ciaran Martin, former chief of the National Cyber Security Centre – part of the security services – will [...]
Hardworking families will pay for Labour’s Benefits Budget November 26, 2025 Rachel Reeves has broken every single one of her promises in this year's Budget, and it's hardworking families who will pay, writes Mel Stride.
Budget: Kemi Badenoch slams ‘shameless’ Rachel Reeves November 26, 2025 The mood in the House of Commons morphed from rowdy to somewhat tense following the Budget, as Kemi Badenoch launched a series of scathing political and personal attacks on Rachel Reeves. The Conservative leader slammed the Chancellor’s position as “untenable”, and her fiscal announcements as a “Budget for Benefits Street”. Badenoch said: “I hope she [...]
OBR questioned on Reeves’ flip-flopping and forecast changes November 20, 2025 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)’s chief has been questioned on whether he dramatically upgraded forecasts midway through the Chancellor’s Budget planning, affording Rachel Reeves as much as a £10bn swing in headroom projections and allowing her to abandon plans to raise income taxes. Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride has written to Richard Hughes, chair of [...]
Labour’s assault on jobs will undermine growth November 4, 2025 Rachel Reeves is engaged in a complicated dance with the Office for Budget Responsibility in the run up to her second Budget. When the fiscal watchdog presents its scorecard on the Chancellor’s plans – and on wider government policies – the music will stop and we’ll see whether Reeves pulls off a surprising lift, or [...]
Mel Stride rules out electoral pact with Reform October 30, 2025 Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride has insisted the Conservatives will not strike an electoral deal with Reform UK due to their “completely ruinous” economic agenda. In an interview with a new online magazine led by the centre-right think tank Bright Blue, Stride said his party should avoid “indulging in populist politics” and focus on calling out [...]
Kemi Badenoch pledges ‘golden rule’ to cut deficit October 8, 2025 Tory leader Kemi Badenoch will reveal her plan to reduce the public deficit will be a “golden rule” in a crucial speech setting out her party’s hopes to regain voters’ trust on the UK economy. Addressing Conservative Party members on Wednesday, Badenoch is set to lay out a central mission underpinning hopes of reviving the [...]
Mel Stride: I would raise income tax in Rachel Reeves’ position October 7, 2025 Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride has said he would raise income taxes if he were in Rachel Reeves’ position, facing a £30bn black hole in the public finances. Speaking at a fringe event at the Tory party conference in Manchester, Stride said raising income taxes was the “cleanest” tax hike option available. His comments will likely [...]
Reform UK: Kent local authority poised to hike council tax October 6, 2025 Reform UK-run Kent County Council is likely to raise council tax next year, with a cabinet member suggesting that a five per cent hike is on the cards. Diane Morton, the council lead for adult social care, told the Financial Times: “We’ve got more demand than ever before and it’s growing.” “We just want more [...]