Reeves dealt blow as Britons’ bleak view of economy revealed – Budget latest

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said that Rachel Reeves would have been sacked in any other industry because of her performance as Chancellor.

When asked if Ms Reeves should lose her job, the Tory leader told Talk TV: “I think in any other field she would have.

“But she’s actually one of the best they’ve got on the Labour benches, which is what’s really sad – if she goes we’re likely to get someone much worse.

“Listen to Labour backbenchers and a lot of the things that they ask for are completely crazy, they would bankrupt the country tomorrow.”

She said the “mistakes” made in Ms Reeves’ first budget were “what she is trying to fix now with the emergency budget we are getting tomorrow”.

“This is not something that’s reacting to world events, she made errors, problems have been caused and now she is going to try to fix them again tomorrow.”

Some 58 per cent of Brits say they believe the economy is worsening, with just one in 10 believing growth was getting better, according to a survey from KPMG.

The number of people who think the economy is degrading grew by 15 per cent in the last three months.

The survey of 3,000 UK consumers explored their buying behaviour in the three months to February. Those feeling insecure about their finances grew from 21 per cent to 24 per cent from December to February.

More than four in 10 said they are reducing their spend on everyday items and 36 per cent said they are saving more as a contingency.

Nearly one in three people surveyed said they were deferring the purchase of big-ticket items.

With big decisions ahead for Rachel Reeves, we want to hear from you: What do you want to see in tomorrow’s spring statement?

Should the chancellor introduce measures to protect living standards, such as targeted support for low-income households? Should she focus on economic growth and job creation through investment in infrastructure and skills?

Or would you like to see tax reform, closing loopholes and raising revenue in a different way? Perhaps public services investment should take priority, ensuring the NHS, education, and local councils have the funding they need.

Jake Richards, MP for Rother Valley, said of men’s mental health: “Men, especially young men, are spending less time outside, less time meeting people and communicating in person, all the things that make us far happier and healthier.

“They’re often sat alone for hours being bombarded with algorithms showing unrealistic representations of life or communicating through anonymous group chats.”

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook has said he is “still confident, still committed” that Labour can build 1.5 million homes by the end of parliament as the government announces a new £2 billion housebuilding plan.

“It’s an incredibly stretching target. We could have picked a far less stretching target. Would have been far easier to meet.

“But it wouldn’t have been commensurate with the scale of the housing crisis that we face in this country.”

He pointed out that 160,000 children remain “homeless in temporary accommodation as we sit here”, adding: “We’ve got to take radical action to turn that around.”

He called the £2 billion an “immediate injection” that is “part of our commitment to deliver the biggest boost in social and affordable house building in a generation”.

“This is not the sum total of what we’ll invest in social and affordable housing for 2026-27; It’s a down payment on future long term funding, it’s a bridge to get us to a successor programme, but pulling that funding forward will give certainty to the sector.”

Have your say: The chancellor’s spring statement is just around the corner, bringing with it new concerns about the future of living standards in the UK.

As Sir Keir Starmer faces a potential backlash over plans to end disability payments for around 1 million people, figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show the government spend on all working-age benefits is £117.6bn – representing 4.5 per cent of GDP and is 9.2 per cent of the government’s overall budget.

That is more than double the amount spent on defence (£56.4bn) and more than the entire education budget (£116bn).

David Maddox reports:

Sir Keir Starmer said problems with the attitudes of some boys and young men cannot be ignored.

The Prime Minister said the Government should not “shrug our shoulders” about the challenges, although he rejected the suggestion a “minister for men” was needed.

His comments came after former England football manager Sir Gareth Southgate said many young men were turning to “manipulative and toxic influencers” because of a lack of male role models.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook has said he does not “personally think it’s appropriate” to accept free tickets to the O2 and that if he wanted to see a show he would pay for it.

The minister told LBC, as chancellor Rachel Reeves faces criticism for accepting free tickets to see Sabrina Carpenter: “I don’t personally think it’s appropriate. If I want to go to a concert at the O2 I’ll pay for it.

“But individual MPs, individual ministers make their own decisions. I think that the important thing is that everything is declared and above board, so individual people can make their choices as to whether they think it’s appropriate to take tickets on occasions.

“I personally haven’t done, as I said, at the O2, and wouldn’t do.”

Thousands of new homes in England will be built as part of the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, the government has said.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves vowed the £2 billion in grant funding to deliver up to 18,000 new homes in England will go some way to “fixing the housing crisis”.

Millie Cooke reports: