Rachel Reeves rages at 'chaotic' Brexit in pre-Budget blame game just hours before statement

Ms Reeves also claimed Labour had started to see results in the past year with "wages rising faster than inflation, hospital waiting lists coming down, and our economy growing faster and stronger than people expected".

However, the Office for Budget Responsibility has downgraded its UK growth forecast in each year until the start of the next decade and predicts disposable incomes will remain stagnant.

During her pre-recorded clip, the Chancellor said: "But I know there is more to do... I know that the cost of living is still bearing down on family finances, I know that people feel frustrated at the pace of change, or angry at the unfairness in our economy.

"I have to be honest that the damage done from austerity, a chaotic Brexit and the pandemic were worse than we thought.

"But I'm not going to duck those challenges, and nor will I accept that our past must define our future. It doesn't have to."

Labour has been ramping up its attacks on Brexit in recent months, with Sir Keir Starmer taking aim at the deal negotiated by Boris Johnson in his keynote conference speech in Liverpool.

The Treasury is expected to cite official figures which suggest Britain's economy would be around £120billion bigger by 2035 if voters had not opted to leave the European Union.

Ms Reeves’s pivot to blame Brexit for the country's economic woes comes after pro-EU campaign group Best for Britain found that 62 per cent of voters believe Brexit has been a failure.

Despite voters pinning Britain's economic difficulties to Brexit, EU member states have also struggled in recent years.

Britain's GDP grew by 0.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2025, significantly higher than the 0.1 per cent Eurozone average.

The latest official figures from the ONS also suggest that Brexit has delivered a 12 per cent rise in the UK’s economy, plus a six per cent rise in real GDP per head.

GDP growth is narrowly ahead of the figure in France and almost double the rate of Germany's sluggish 5.7 per cent.

In real terms, the gap between Britain and Germany is even bigger - with the UK's 14 per cent growth outpacing the 2.2 per cent recorded by Europe's largest economy.

Meanwhile, Brexit Britain recovered from a post-Covid slump as real GDP per capita jumped from £37,936 in 2015 to £40,172 last year.

However, it has also been suggested that Brexit is costing the UK up to £90billion in lost tax revenue.

The new analysis, which was commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, estimated Brexit is costing the average Briton between £2,700 and £3,700.

Despite the Eurozone facing sluggish growth, Liberal Democrat MP Calum Miller is now calling on Ms Reeves to pursue closer ties with Europe.

The Bicester & Woodstock MP told The People’s Channel: "We think there's a great opportunity for the Government to cut some of that red tape by improving our relationship with Europe, especially for our small manufacturers and exporters, who are tied up in that red tape and unable to grow their businesses.

"That's a real opportunity for the Government to get on with that relationship with Europe and improve the growth prospects for the country."

Ms Reeves will end months of speculation about her tax-hiking Budget at 12.30pm today, with levies expected to go up to fill a £30billion black hole in the public finances.

During the 2024 General Election campaign, Labour ruled out increasing income tax, VAT and national insurance contributions on working people.

However, a potential freeze in income tax thresholds could mark a major breach of Labour’s 2024 manifesto.

Following her first Budget last October, Ms Reeves promised Britain she would not return for yet another tax-hiking autumn statement.

The Chancellor raised £40billion in taxes last October, making her maiden Budget the biggest raid on the public’s pockets since 1993.