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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Holly Bishop

Watch in full: Starmer faces Budget grilling at PMQs

Watch as Sir Keir Starmer faces a grilling over the Budget at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday (3 December).

The prime minister defended Rachel Reeves in a speech on Monday, after she was accused of misleading the public by lying about economic forecasts she had received to justify her £26bn worth of tax hikes.

It has emerged that before her speech, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) told her that the public’s finances had significantly improved and that, instead of a deficit, she had a surplus of £4.2bn.

Backing Ms Reeves, who has denied that she lied, the PM said the Budget was a “moment of personal pride”.

Sir Keir was also challenged on the reforms to the justice system announced on Tuesday (2 December), which would see juries scrapped in so-called either-way cases that have a likely jail time of three years or less.

It comes as Justice Secretary David Lammy revealed that 12 prisoners have been mistakenly released in the past three weeks, two of whom are still at large.

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