A top Labour minister has said there is no need for an “emergency budget” as he sought to calm market turbulence.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones insisted the Labour government would only hold one major fiscal event each year, with the next Budget already pencilled in for the autumn.
It came as the Chancellor Rachel Reeves was given a small boost after days of intense pressure with a surprise fall in inflation. Official figures on Wednesday showed the rate of Consumer Prices Index inflation fell to 2.5% in December – down from 2.6% in November.
After days of jitters in the markets and pressure on Ms Reeves, the Chancellor came out fighting on Monday and shrugged off Tory calls to resign. She told Tory critics to “get real” over the market turmoil and asked if they wanted to apologise for Liz Truss’s mini-Budget.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Jones insisted we “don’t need an emergency budget” – after Ms Reeves was accused of failing to rule out the prospect. He stressed on Sky News: “The chancellor will give a spring statement on 26 March, that was confirmed before Christmas, that’s when she will publish the forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility.”
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He added: “We’re just going to have one fiscal event in autumn, and a statement in the spring.”
Mr Jones also told Times Radio: “We’ve been very clear there’s only going to be one major fiscal event – Treasury language for a budget – a year. We did that in the autumn last year.”
The Treasury minister also said the pressure on the Chancellor in recent weeks was “unfair” and insisted she is doing a “brilliant job”. He went on: “The first thing to say, as I’m always reminded, is ministers don’t comment on market movements, but what I will say is that a lot of this is down to global movements in international markets. Other countries are facing similar challenges.”
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The Chancellor’s fiscal rules are the “right approach from the Chancellor in difficult global economic circumstances, and with a difficult inheritance that we had from the last government”, he added.
Responding to the fall in inflation today, Ms Reeves added: “There is still work to be done to help families across the country with the cost of living. That’s why the Government has taken action to protect working people’s payslips from higher taxes, frozen fuel duty and boosted the national minimum wage.
“In our Plan for Change, we were clear that growth is our number one priority to put more money in the pockets of working people. I will fight every day to deliver that growth and improve living standards in every part of the UK.”
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