October review is expected to be eye-wateringly severe, but chancellor will draw on official data to make her case
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If Rachel Reeves was looking for political cover for what is being billed as a budget of eye-watering severity, then the latest set of figures for the UK’s public finances certainly provided it.
The chancellor has been saying since arriving at the Treasury last month that the government has been spending and borrowing a lot more than expected – and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has duly obliged with evidence to back up her case.
