BBC political editor Chris Mason.

Rachel Reeves “misled” the public about the state of the public finances in the run-up to the Budget, BBC political editor Chris Mason has said.

He said the chancellor chose to withhold the fact that she had been told by the Office for Budget Responsibility financial watchdog that the government had more money than was initially thought.

In its final pre-Budget report to the chancellor, the OBR told her the Treasury had a surplus of £4.2 billion.

But in a Downing Street press conference days later, Reeves painted a gloomy picture of the state of the economy as she laid the ground for big tax rises at the Budget.

Treasury officials also suggested in the run-up to the Budget that there was a black hole of up to £30bn in the government’s sums.

On Sunday, the chancellor was forced to deny lying to the country when being interviewed by Sky News.

But on........

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