The chancellor cannot hide for ever from her big political choice

18th March 2025

Paul Johnson writing for the Times and reproduce at The Institute for fiscal Studies sets out the problems for Rachel Reeves with her spring statement coming next week.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Perhaps the chancellor is contemplating Romeo and Juliet as she prepares for her spring forecast. Or is it a spring statement. Or a budget?

He concludes -
It was a mistake to claim constant and strict adherence to a fiscal target and then set policy to meet that target by the tiniest of margins. If the target is to stay, then Reeves needs to show she really means it. That means continuing to raise the tax burden to ever higher levels, or taking a knife to public spending. If she's serious about her ironclad rules she's going to have to show her true colours; and the sooner she does the better.

Read the whole article HERE

About Paul Johnson
Paul Gavin Johnson CBE is a British economist, currently serving as director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. He is also a columnist for The Times, and a visiting professor in Economics at the Department of Economics, University College London.
He is frequently on radio and tv talking about the economy and also on videos by the IFS online.