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Chancellor Rachel Reeves has denied misleading the public
First Minister John Swinney has called for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to resign, accusing her of misleading the public and financial markets.
The SNP leader said that Reeves must “face the consequences” of her actions, telling BBC Scotland News that she had “no alternative” but to quit.
Reeves has denied misleading the public in the lead-up to last week’s Budget announcement by suggesting that the UK’s finances were in a worse state than they actually were.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also insisted that the chancellor did not make misleading statements.
In a pre-Budget speech on 4 November, Reeves strongly hinted at tax rises after warning that the UK’s productivity performance was “weaker than previously thought”.
It has since emerged that the Office for Budget Responsibility told her in mid-September that public finances were in better shape than widely thought due to a forecast of higher wages – something the chancellor did not mention.
The Conservatives have accused her of giving an overly pessimistic impression of the public finances to provide a “smokescreen” for tax hikes.
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John Swinney says the chancellor should be investigated by the prime minister’s ethics adviser
Swinney told BBC Scotland News: “Rachel Reeves has quite clearly misled the public and the financial markets.
“She had information from the Office for Budget Responsibility that indicated that the financial challenges that she faced were not as great as she presented them to be.
“If the public cannot rely on the chancellor being straight with them then I don’t know how we can function in our governance.
“So I think Rachel Reeves has got to face the consequences of misleading the public in the way that she has.”
He called for Reeves to be investigated by the the prime minister’s ethics adviser.
Swinney added: “If we cannot rely on the chancellor the exchequer telling the truth to the public then the United Kingdom government is in a dismal situation.”
‘Deplorable ruse’
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has urged Reeves to resign and called for an investigation.
She said that the chancellor “appears to have given false information deliberately to try and get her Budget a soft-landing”.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has reported Reeves to the independent adviser on ministerial ethics to investigate whether she broke the ministerial code.
The Scottish Conservatives have called for Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar to give his views on the chancellor’s position.
Tory finance spokesman Craig Hoy said: “Rachel Reeves shamefully misled the public and the markets about the state of the nation’s finances in the weeks running up to the budget.
“There was no need to raise taxes to balance the books. Her Downing Street press conference was a deplorable ruse to pave the way for Labour’s latest reckless splurge on benefits.
“The Scottish Labour leader has a duty to explain to Scots why they should be hit with another brutal rise in household and business bills, just so that Reeves and Starmer can play political games.”
Scottish Labour have been asked to comment.
Reeves told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that the OBR figures were clear that there had been “less fiscal space than there was” and that she had been “upfront” about her decision-making.
She said she did not “accept” that she had misled the public or financial markets.