The Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said ‘we don’t need an emergency budget’ after figures showed a surprise fall in inflation in December
A top Labour minister has said there is no need for an “emergency budget” as he sought to calm market jitters.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said the Labour government would only hold one major fiscal event each year, with the next Budget currently planned in the autumn.
It came as the Chancellor Rachel Reeves was given a small boost after 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: “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.”
He added: “We’re just going to have one fiscal event in autumn, and a statement in the spring.”
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