The Conservative Party leader was unable to name anything she admired about the Chancellor
Kemi Badeonch has called on Rachel Reeves to resign, claiming the Chancellor gave “misleading information and statements which appear to have manipulated markets in time for her budget”.
The Conservative Party leader told LBC they have written to the Financial Conduct Authority to get them to investigate the statements made by the Chancellor on November 4 and 10.
Ms Reeves has faced claims she misled voters by overstating the scale of the fiscal challenge in the run-up to last week’s Budget, in which she announced £26 billion worth of tax rises.
She has also been accused of misleading the Cabinet.
Ms Badenoch said: “If a CEO had done that, they would have lost their job. Market manipulation is a very serious thing.”
“As the Leader of the Opposition, it is my job to hold the Government to account. And that’s why we have written to the FCA.” she added.
“And depending on what the FCA finds, I think the Prime Minister himself may have questions to answer. But right now it was Rachel Reeves who made those statements. And she’s the one who needs to answer for what she said.”
The Chancellor has said an Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast showing a £4.2 billion surplus against her borrowing rules did not take into account the welfare reform U-turn or the abolition of the two-child benefit cap.
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that there was “no misleading” by the Chancellor over the state of the public finances ahead of the Budget.
The Prime Minister said: “There was no misleading, and I simply don’t accept, and I was receiving the numbers, that being told that the OBR productivity review means you’ve got £16 billion less than you would otherwise have had shows that you’ve got an easy starting point.
“Yes, of course, all the other figures have to be taken into account.
“But we started the process with significantly less than we would otherwise have had.
He said there was “no pretending” that it was a “good starting point”.
Ms Badenoch was unable to name anything she admired about Ms Reeves, telling LBC: “I think that it’s probably best that I don’t make any more comments, because she seems to get upset at any kind of criticism whatsoever.
“Right now. I don’t really see much to admire. A lot of people have lost their jobs because of her policies.”
While attending the Wales Investment Summit in Newport on Monday, Ms Reeves said she was “proud” of her Budget and dismissed doubts about her future as Chancellor.
Asked how confident she was that she would still be Chancellor by the next election, she said: “I’m absolutely confident.
“I set out in a speech a couple of weeks before the Budget that the ambition for the Budget was to cut NHS waiting lists, cut the cost of living, and cut the debt and the deficit.
“We’ve achieved all of those things.
“We’ve increased the headroom and the idea that some people are suggesting that we had £4 billion to play with… Well, actually, what happened was the headroom was revised down by the OBR, was more than halved, but I wanted to double that headroom because that gives us the best shot of withstanding all of the volatility that we’re seeing in the global economy at the moment.
“So I’m proud of my Budget and its choices.”
By Ella Bennett
