Bad news for Rachel from accounts as the OBR halves growth forecast under this government

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has issued a brutal report warning based on the Chancellor’s Spring Budget the economy will only grow by 1%.

Rachel Reeves said during her “emergency Budget” there will be enormous cuts to the welfare state and public spending.

The OBR slashed UK growth forecast for the whole of 2025 as growth has been cut from 2% to 1%, the fiscal watchdog said that growth has been upgraded for every year for the whole of this parliament in 2029.

Reeves told MPs in the House of Commons on Wednesday that she is “not satisfied with these numbers.”

The OBR said the changes to incapacity benefits and disability will save £3.4 billion in 2029/2030 and not the £5 billion the government has claimed.

Reeves said there is “nothing progressive” for working people paying the price of economic irresponsibility, in a snub to the previous government.

She said, “Now let me be clear. There is nothing progressive, there is nothing Labour, about working people paying the price of economic irresponsibility.

“The British people put their trust in this Government because they knew that we would never take risks with the public finances, that we would never do anything to put their household finances in danger. But we must earn that trust every single day.”

The Chancellor said, “In the autumn, I set out new fiscal rules that would guide this Government. These fiscal rules are non-negotiable. They are the embodiment of this Government’s unwavering commitment to bring stability to our economy and to ensure security for working people. Because the British people have seen what happens when a government borrows beyond its means. The mini-budget delivered by the party opposite led to higher bills, higher rents and higher mortgages.”

“It was not the wealthy who suffered most, it was working people. And they continue to feel the effects two and a half years later of the damage that the party opposite did.”

Reeves added, “I will then return to the House to deliver a budget in the autumn in line with our commitment to deliver just one major fiscal event a year.”