Kemi Badenoch has accused the government of “market abuse” over their handling of the Budget and called on the Chancellor’s resignation.
This comes after Keir Starmer faced scrutiny by MPs at Prime Ministers Questions this afternoon.
He faced questions over the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap, the OBR’s premature leak of their forecast, and his confidence in Rachel Reeves.
The Leader of the Opposition said: “(Reeves) doesn’t belong in the treasury, she belongs in La La Land.”
It is rare to see the first session of PMQs following the Budget, not be focused on its contents.
In an unusual turn, Badenoch focused on quizzing Starmer on the proceedings pre-empting last week’s fiscal event.
Attempting to paint a bigger picture of the politics of the run up and fallout of the Budget, she took to the despatch box to ask the Prime Minister whether he believes an individual at the top should resign when an organisation “descends into total shambles.”
This comes after the former chairman of the OBR, Richard Hughes, resigned on Monday after its official forecast was mistakenly released before the Chancellor announced the Budget.
Starmer responded by saying he was “proud” of the Budget last week, saying that he would “not repeat the mistake of austerity.”
Badenoch went on to state the party had written to the Financial Conduct Authority for what the Tories believe to be “market manipulation” over the financial outlook presented to the public prior to the budget.
Kemi Badenoch accused Rachel Reeves of purposely presenting an overly pessimistic outlook of the state of public finances as a means to justify tax rises, which Downing Street denies.
“We also know that the chancellor was briefing the media, twisting the facts all so she could break her promises and raise taxes,” Badenoch said.
Starmer refuted the statement, saying Badenoch had “lost the plot”. He went on to list that growth and wages had increased.
He added: “We’re turning the page on their austerity and reckless disparate on borrowing. I’d compare that record to theirs every day of the week.”
Badenoch then turned to read out comments from a member of Starmer’s own cabinet, who described the budget as a “disaster from start to finish.”
She then asked why the chancellor remained in post if the head of the OBR resigned.
Starmer outlined his support for Rachel Reeves, claiming that the Tories cost the OBR an additional £16bn in their productivity review.
He went on to list the contents of the budget, saying that Reeves ensured to protect the NHS by cutting waiting times down, £150 off energy bills, and outlining the freeze in rail and prescription costs.
He said: “Picking up a £16bn tab for their failure is not a good starting point for any Budget and the OBR said yesterday that the chancellor’s speech was not misleading.”
Badenoch finally moved on to questioning the content of the Budget.
She claimed that Starmer raised welfare spending to minimise discontent from backbenchers.
She also asked how scrapping the two-child benefit cap is now affordable, despite Starmer’s decision to remove the whip of some of his MPs last summer, after they called for it to be discared.
Starmer responds by saying that three quarters of children in poverty come from working families.
He added: “Their policy of nearly ten years on the two-child benefit cap had one result, and one result only. It dragged hundreds of thousands of children into poverty.”
