Hunt delays Halloween budget to November 17

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s planned Halloween budget to get the public finances back on track has been delayed until next month, Downing Street has said.

The medium term fiscal plan will now be published on November 17 as an autumn statement – alongside a new set of economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Mr Hunt informed ministers of the decision at the first meeting of Rishi Sunak’s new cabinet in Downing Street on Wednesday morning.

Following the meeting, Mr Hunt told broadcasters: “I want to confirm that it will demonstrate debt falling over the medium term which is really important for people to understand.

“But it’s also extremely important that that statement is based on the most accurate possible economic forecasts and forecasts of public finances.

“And for that reason the Prime Minister and I have decided it is prudent to make that statement on November 17 when it will be upgraded to a full autumn statement.”

Mr Hunt said he discussed the move with Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey on Tuesday night, adding he (Mr Bailey) “understands the reasons for doing that and I’ll continue to work very closely with him”.

He  said it is  essential to ensure the “very, very difficult decisions” that would be required on tax and spending “stand the test of time”.

“The OBR also want to make sure that their forecasts are the most accurate possible and there have been a lot of changes even in the last 48 hours,” he said.

“And this is my recommendation to the Prime Minister as the best way to ensure that the decisions that we take, these very, very difficult decisions, are ones that stand the test of time and give us the best chance of giving people security over their mortgages, over their jobs, over the cost-of-living concerns that everyone has.

“I’ve demonstrated in the short time that I’ve been Chancellor that I’m willing to take decisions very quickly and I’m willing to make choices that are politically embarrassing if they’re the right thing to do for the country, if they’re in the national interest.

“Now we have a new Prime Minister and the prospect of much longer-term stability for the economy and the country.

“In that context a short two-and-a-half week delay is the best way we will make sure that it is the right decisions we take.”

Former prime minister Liz Truss had been forced to bring forward the publication of the fiscal plan in the wake of the turmoil which erupted after then chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s now-abandoned mini-budget tax giveaway.

But, with financial markets appearing calmed by Mr Sunak’s victory in the Tory leadership race, ministers have decided they have the breathing space for a short delay.

In his first day in office on Tuesday, the Prime Minister dumped nearly a dozen of his predecessor’s top-tier ministers while reviving the careers of multiple ousted frontbenchers.

Experienced figures including Dominic Raab and Michael Gove were brought back into the Cabinet having been sacked by Ms Truss and Boris Johnson during their leaderships.

But Mr Sunak faced criticism over the re-appointment of Suella Braverman as Home Secretary six days after she was sacked for breaching the ministerial code.

She was shown the door by Ms Truss for the unauthorised sharing of an official document to Tory backbencher Sir John Hayes from a personal email.

The Liberal Democrats have called for a Cabinet Office inquiry, saying she must be sacked if she repeatedly broke the rules and “threatened national security”.