Rachel Reeves is set to pledge to "fix the foundations of our economy" in a highly anticipated speech to parliament today, where she will announce the budget date and lay the groundwork for spending cuts.
She will accuse the previous government of "covering up the true state of the public finances", and the Chancellor is expected to introduce a range of new measures that will lead to spending cuts "within the financial year".
These cuts will be implemented through a new Office of Value for Money, which the government says will utilise existing civil service resources to "put an end to wasteful spending in government" and scrutinise all government department budgets.
As part of this cost-cutting initiative, all "non-essential" consultant spending will be eliminated, and any surplus property or estates will be sold.
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Reeves will also limit the government to one major fiscal event per year, which she claims will eliminate the surprise fiscal policy that "caused uncertainty for both the markets and family finances", as reported by .
"The previous government refused to take the difficult decisions. They covered up the true state of the public finances. And then they ran away. I will never do that," Reeves will assert. "We will fix the foundations of our economy, so we can rebuild Britain and make every part of our country better off."
The new Chancellor is also anticipated to announce the date of the upcoming Budget and Spending Review, as well as confirm that she has commissioned a forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility.
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Given that OBR forecasts typically require a minimum of twelve weeks to complete, it's unlikely that Reeves' inaugural Budget will be presented any earlier than mid-October.
The Chancellor has scheduled a speech in Parliament to address the results of a Treasury spending audit, which is predicted to reveal an £18bn "black hole" in the government's finances, following the Conservative administration's overspending on its most recent budgets by "billions of pounds".
Many anticipate that the speech's emphasis on the "funding black hole" will set the stage for a Budget marked by tax increases and spending reductions, including a much-discussed capital gains tax rise, which the Treasury declined to refute yesterday.
In her speech, Reeves will state: "Taxes [are] at a seventy year high. Debt through the roof. An economy only just coming out of recession. I knew all those things. I was honest about them during the election campaign. And the difficult choices it meant."
"But upon my arrival at the Treasury three weeks ago, it became clear that there were things I did not know. Things that the party opposite covered up from the country."
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