Carole Malone says the Chancellor is ‘entirely discredited’ (Image: /)
Rachel Reeves has been accused of failing to take responsibility for causing “chaos in the markets” following her autumn Budget tax raids. Presenter and columnist Carole Malone told our podcast The Daily Expresso: “This woman will not take responsibility for what she has done. She talks about growth, we have no growth.”
It comes on the day the Chancellor was grilled in a furious House of Commons row, with Conservative Dame Harriet Baldwin criticising her claim that tax rises were the fault of the Tories. While answering questions from the House of Commons Treasury Committee about leaks ahead of the Budget on November 26, Ms Reeves confirmed that Government Ministers and civil servants are being investigated. She also insisted that the last Conservative government had left her a £22 billion “black hole”, a claim reportedly discredited by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
READ MORE: ‘Rachel Reeves launches Budget leak enquiry – I know exactly who it’ll blame’
READ MORE: State pension triple lock update as Rachel Reeves makes huge statement
Speaking with Steph Spyro on The Daily Expresso, Carole Malone said: “She talked up the black hole big time. She talked it up even though on November 4, she knew absolutely that the country was in a better state than she had told us.
“Still, she chose to talk down the situation that we were in. She also imposes £30 billion worth of tax rises. I think she is entirely discredited now.”
She added: “She stands up there and no one believes her. And for a Chancellor, that is catastrophic. This woman has caused chaos in the markets and she won’t admit to it.”
In the House of Commons debate, Dame Harriet asked: “So you chose not to put any pro-growth measures in this Budget?” The Chancellor then insisted: “That’s … no, no, no.”
Ms Reeves then told the Tory MP: “Dame Harriet. Don’t contradict what I’ve just said.” She continued: “I didn’t say in the answer to my question, as you’ve just suggested, that there were no growth measures in this budget, far from it.”
Rachel Reeves was grilled in the House of Commons (Image: Getty)
Ms Malone added that the Chancellor is “rattled”. She continued: “She’s used to getting her own way and spewing whatever nonsense she wants to say. Someone is trying to pin her down and she doesn’t like being pinned down because most of what she says is rubbish.”
She added: “You can’t believe what she says. In that grilling she had today, she did admit that the budget leaks were unacceptable and damaging. But she’s actually trying to pretend that she knew nothing about them. This is a joke.
“We have had more leaks on this budget than I have ever known in my journalistic career. For her to say that she didn’t know anything about them is a joke. She is not telling the truth about this.
“She’s now saying she’s ‘launching an enquiry’ – it’s a sham. There will be no culprit at the end of this enquiry because the true culprit will be her.”
In terms of growth measures, Ms Reeves highlighted plans to build a new runway at Heathrow Airport and a film studio in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. Dame Harriet added that budget leaks have prevented investment in the UK.
You can watch The Daily Expresso on YouTube or listen to it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other platforms.
