Rachel Reeves' Spring Statement: What can we expect?

Transcript

00:00It's another big day for Rachel Reeves on Wednesday with the Spring Statement.

00:04Now, what should you expect? Well, first of all, brace yourself for some grim economic news.

00:10The Office for Budget Responsibility, the fiscal watchdog, is expected to halve its

00:15forecast for UK economic growth for this year from 2% to around 1%. The Chancellor will also

00:22announce that the government will spend billions of pounds less than it was planning to do so

00:27just months ago. And that will mean significant cuts to some departments. Now, who's to blame

00:33for all this? Rachel Reeves. She points to what she calls a changing world. And there's no doubt

00:39that Donald Trump's tariff wars is hitting the UK and other economies. But that's not the full

00:45story. The Chancellor's autumn budget has been widely criticised, particularly for the £25

00:51billion hike in national insurance contributions by employers. Economists say this has hit economic

00:58growth, damaged businesses and is leading to job losses. Now, Ms Reeves has a defence. She says

01:04the money is needed to repair Britain's crumbling broken public services, including the ailing NHS

01:12and overcrowded prisons. But she has a problem because she has made economic growth her number

01:18one priority. And if her NRIs is hitting economic growth, then it's an own goal. So on Wednesday,

01:26her judgment, her reputation and her economic plan will be very much in the spotlight.