British Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended not only what he described as the "fair choices" in the budget but also his finance minister, accused of misleading the public before the release of her fiscal plans.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has defended his Treasury chief Rachel Reeves against claims she misled the public about government finances before last week's tax-hiking budget

Sir Keir Starmer has admitted for the first time he was planning a manifesto-busting increase to income tax rates in the run-up to the Budget, as he denied misleading voters about the public finances.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer insists his Chancellor Rachel Reeves did not mislead the public before the Budget by overstating problems with the public finances.

Reeves and Starmer swerved the alternative of a righteous public execution: breaking the letter of their pledge by openly raising tax rates to enable a fast delivery of “change” in public services. This is therefore a defensive budget, and their caution is understandable.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves' latest tax and spending plans show a government hemmed in on all sides, writes Oliver Eagleton.

"We won't have to do a budget like this ever again," Britain's finance minister Rachel Reeves declared a year ago, insisting she had restored stability to the public finances on her first attempt and would not be coming back for more tax rises.

Richard Hughes has resigned as chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, after the UK fiscal watchdog accidentally leaked Rachel Reeves’ Budget before the chancellor delivered it. Monday’s announcement of his exit came shortly after an investigation by the OBR oversight board into last week’s unprecedented error found that the same failures had allowed early access to the Spring Statement in March.