Rachel Reeves must break her fiscal rules. Better now than later | Phillip Inman

There is already arguably too little flexibility in the chancellor’s budget plan. Trump’s tariffs chaos makes a rethink inevitable

Critics of Rachel Reeves are enjoying another a “told you so” moment. It was never realistic, they say, to formulate a budget plan with virtually no leeway to accommodate for unforeseen events.

Less than £10bn of headroom on a budget of £1.2tn was asking for trouble. It is clear there are just too many events that could be put on a list of “known unknowns” for a UK chancellor to almost wilfully wish away their potential impact on the economy and the public finances.

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