The Prime Minister is desperately scrambling to protect the Chancellor following the Budget debacle
Keir Starmer has defended Rachel Reeves over claims she misled ministers (Image: Getty)
It’s quite something that days after delivering the Budget your boss has to come out and defend you. That’s exactly what’s just happened in a toe-curling moment this morning when Sir Keir Starmer said Rachel Reeves didn’t lie about the nation’s financial fortunes.
As a Lawyer, Keir Starmer is well aware of speaking “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. I’m still not sure we got the full story here. Make no mistake about it, both the Prime Minister and his Chancellor are on very shakey ground indeed.
Sir Keir queasily refuted claims Ms Reeves misled voters by talking up the scale of the fiscal challenge in the run-up to last week’s Budget, in which she announced £26 billion worth of tax rises.
The PM gave a head-spinningly long answer which I’m not sure cleared anything up.
He did admit that the government genuinely thought about hiking income tax and breaching Labour’s manifesto but ultimately decided against it.
But as the questions over Ms Reeves integrity kept coming, Sir Keir’s cheeks got pinker and pinker.
This was a man who was clearly not enjoy having to defend the second most senior person in his Cabinet.
It’s no surprise.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has urged the Prime Minister’s independent standards adviser Sir Laurie Magnus to look into potential breaches of the ministerial code.
And members of Sir Keir’s top team reportedly accused him and Ms Reeves of misleading the Cabinet, with an unnamed minister as describing the handling of the Budget as “a disaster from start to finish”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer delivers a speech in central London, backing the Budget to signal a (Image: PA)
Before what felt like a public flogging, a defiant Sir Keir took to the stage at a community enterprise in Central London in an attempt to explain last week’s fiscal statement and why it matters.
Describing it as “a moment of personal pride for me”, the Prime Minister said it would help reduce child poverty and help tackle the cost of living crisis.
He claimed that Britain has got its confidence back, also making the same old tired attacks on the Tories and blaming Brexit.
“I am also confident we have now walked through the narrowest part of the tunnel,” he chortled.
“Because while I know it’s still hard for lots of people, while I know the cost of living crisis has not gone away, in the year ahead you will see the benefits of our approach, not just in the national statistics, but in your communities.”
