Rachel Reeves has been accused of “lying” to the public about the state of the country’s finances to justify £26 billion in tax hikes announced in her Autumn Budget .

In the lead-up to the statement, the Chancellor repeatedly warned she would need to make “hard choices” that were “necessary to deliver strong foundations for the economy ”, citing the need to protect the NHS, reduce national debt, and tackle the cost of living.

In her November 4 precursor speech to the Autumn budget, she laid the groundwork for tax rises, blaming Donald Trump’s tariffs and the Budget watchdog’s expected downgrade of productivity for the changes, arguing that if Britain is to “build the future of Britain together”, “we will all have to contribute to that effort.”

This signalled that she intended

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