Chancellor Rachel Reeves is facing mounting calls for her resignation from frustrated business owners after a series of leaks ahead of this week’s budget by Hugh Dalton, who quit in 1947 after outing a reporter’s style before delivering his statement.
Criticism intensified after the Office of the Budget successfully published its full economic hours online ahead of Reeves’ speech. The OBR has apologised, but an early release revealed that GDP growth is expected to reach 1.5%, lower than recently envisaged, and confirmed it has introduced a new property tax of £20m from 2028-30.
Business figures say a string of leaks, intentional or otherwise, have eroded market confidence.
Riz Malik, R3’s wealth director in Southend-on-Sea, described the situation as a disaster.
“This budget is more open than the Titanic,” he said. “We elect officials to lead, not to test every opinion in society as a focus group. At this rate we will be voting on economic policy firmly.”
Sam Alsop-Hall, Chief Storage Officer of the Clive Henry Group, said the leak was a set market.
“Only in Britain did Shitsel get up and Rachel moved harder than Trump’s press conference going Crypto,” he said. “The Little ‘Budget Strategy’ and ‘Live Stress Test’
Colette Mason, author and AI consultant at Clever Clogs AI, said repeated mishaps point to deep institutional flaws.
“These have no eyes for danger. Incompetence or deception – and there is no credibility building needed at the border when the markets are already greedy,” he said. “The 1947 Standard was about protecting trust in the process. We need that company back.”
Some business owners say Reeves should step down – but warn doing so could create a deep economic disaster.
Tony Redondo, the founder of Cosmos Currency Exchange, said that Reeves’ confidence came naturally, but the argument over his replacement could cause confusion.
“He is the worst Chancellor in 50 years,” he said. “But if he leaves, the bond that wakes up will smell blood, and the UK could face something worse than the Truss 2022 Meltdown.”
Some say the government is repeating the mistakes of last year.
Rob Masfield, of the wealth manager Roots, said: “If the government wants to grow, it needs to bring confidence and legitimacy. And they are invisible.”
Michelle Lawson, a director at Lawson Financial, called it “poor politics”.
“Speculation breeds uncertainty. Some of this feels like staged drama so they can later tell us how good it is to say nothing.”
Daniel Wiltishire, Actuary and IFA at Wiltshire Wealth, said the debt was hurting business sentiment.
“What on earth are they playing with? Business confidence is shot as it is. This is starting to make the Omnishambles look like a masterclass in stecircraft.”
