Chancellor Rachel Reeves has strongly denied accusations that she lied to the public about how big the government's deficit was.The claims came out after the Treasury's forecasts showed that the national finances had a £4.2 billion surplus, which went against earlier warnings that the budget was out of balance.
Reeves thinks that the ideas she had back then were based on the best information she could find.She also says that the UK needs to fix long-standing problems with its economy.
People are paying more attention to Reeves now that there is an unexpected surplus.Some people think she made the money problems look worse than they were to get people to agree to tougher steps.Reeves said that the extra money doesn't fill the "big hole" in the government's budget and that the main issues still need to be fixed.
She made it clear that short-term signs of the economy's health should not be confused with long-term signs.She also said that the UK would be weak in the future if it didn't pay attention to important things.
Starmer is completely behind Reeves and her budget
Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, has publicly backed Reeves, praising how she ran the economy and defending the budget she put out.Starmer said that the chancellor's way of doing things was honest, responsible, and focused on making plans for the long term instead of what was best for politics in the short term.
He said that even though the economy was changing, he and Reeves would still be honest about their money.
