Kwasi Kwarteng said his plan to bring the public finances under control would be announced on November 23, despite widespread speculation it would be brought forward. The Chancellor used his speech yesterday to say the medium-term fiscal plan would be published “shortly” with aides doing little to dampen speculation that meant in October.
But Mr Kwarteng told GB News that “shortly is the 23rd (of November)” and suggested people had been “reading the runes” incorrectly. “It’s going to be November 23.”
A report in the Financial Times said the statement - and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s judgement on the impact of his measures - would instead take place in October, ahead of the November 3 meeting of the Bank of England’s rate-setting commitee.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the Government should “get a grip” and publish the forecasts. Speaking on a visit to Peterborough, Labour’s Ms Reeves said: “The Government should have published the forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility when they did the mini-budget.
“I wrote to the Chancellor at the weekend and said that they should now publish this coming Friday when the Office for Budget Responsibility gives the Government their forecast. The public should see it as well and financial markets need to see it.
“The volatility we’ve had in the last week-and-a-half with a huge spike in borrowing costs for Government and also for families through mortgage rates is causing huge anxiety. Government now need to get a grip, publish those forecasts, if they’ve got nothing to hide what is stopping them?”
