Starmer stands by Reeves as claims grow she misled public on finances

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

51% : Despite that, Ms Reeves continued to frame the public finances as being £20bn in the red and suggested an income tax rise would be required.
44% : One government source said: "It feels quite adversarial for them to have put out the letter on Friday, and that is not a good place for them to be." Another said there was "frustration across government about the lack of consistency in what they do". OBR officials told the Chancellor on October 31 that there was no deficit in the public finances, and that higher-than-expected tax receipts meant a £4.2bn surplus existed before policy changes.
42% : The documents show the Chancellor and her team had significantly overstated the fiscal shortfall as they prepared their £30bn Budget tax raid -- a move critics allege was designed to head off calls from Labour backbenchers to increase taxes to fund welfare spending.
34% : Critics say the Chancellor misled voters by insisting that Britain faced a £30 billion fiscal gap and warning of the need for painful tax rises in the November Budget.
21% : Sharon Graham, Unite's general secretary, told The Telegraph that the Budget's freeze on income tax thresholds -- which Reeves had pledged not to implement -- amounted to a "shameful stealth tax".

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