During Prime Minister’s Questions today (Wednesday December 10), Conservative MPs are set to demand an ‘apology’ from Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves for ‘misleading the country’
Sir Keir Starmer is set to address the UK today during Prime Minister’s Questions amid calls for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to issue an apology for “misleading the country”.
The Conservative Party will today present a motion to Parliament demanding Reeves “apologise for misleading the country about the state of the public finances” in the run-up to the Budget in November.
Critics of the Chancellor have indicated there was a shortfall in public finances that forced her to increase taxes, but when the official data was released it showed this was not the case.
Ms Reeves is also due to answer questions from opposition MPs on the Commons Treasury Committee, and they are also likely to ask whether she misled the public.
In a parliamentary motion presented by the Conservatives leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch, Sir Mel Stride, James Wild and Rebecca Harris promised to question Ms Reeves on “breaking her promises.”
The motion read: “That this House calls on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to apologise for misleading the country about the state of the public finances, rolling the pitch for raising taxes, breaking her promises and increasing welfare spending, including her claim on 4 November 2025 that the OBR would be downgrading their productivity forecast.
“Which, as the Chancellor said, had ‘consequences for the public finances too, in lower tax receipts’, when in fact on 31 October 2025 the OBR had submitted its forecast to the Chancellor that showed tax receipts would be £16 billion higher than previously thought, resulting in the Government’s current balance target being met by a margin of £4.2 billion.
“Further calls on the Chancellor to apologise for breaching the trust of the OBR, whose forecasts are shared in strict confidence until the Chancellor has given her Budget Statement.
“Also calls on the Chancellor to apologise for the misleading briefings and leaks from HM Treasury in advance of the Budget Statement which caused uncertainty for families, businesses and investors; and calls on the Chancellor to apologise for breaking her promise after the last Budget that the Government was not going to raise taxes again, instead raising taxes in the 2025 Budget by £26 billion.”
Other issues that could come up in PMQs today include suggestions from Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy that the UK should rejoin a Customs Union with the EU.
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