Peter Dowd MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to reports in the Times that the Chancellor is considering to again extend the time until he balances the books until 2027, said:

“If these reports are true, it demonstrates once again that this Tory Government is economically inept and would have failed to meet every fiscal target they have set themselves.

“It also suggests that the Chancellor has had to break cover once more to brief the press that he will fail to meet his own target for balancing the books in a bid to get his excuses in early ahead of the Autumn Budget later this year.

“Only a Labour Government will provide the investment our economy needs, underpinned by our Fiscal Credibility Rule, in order to balance the books and build the high wage, high skill jobs of the future.”