A senior official at the UK's economic forecaster has said he does not believe the chancellor was being misleading when she said the state of the public finances were "very challenging" in the run-up to the Budget.
Prof David Miles from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) told MPs Rachel Reeves's comments ahead of announcing her tax and spending plans were "not inconsistent" with the situation she faced.
Reeves has rejected claims she misled the public about the country's finances after the OBR's economic forecasts revealed they were better than widely thought.
However, Prof Miles said despite the forecast, the chancellor still faced a "very difficult Budget and very difficult choices".
He said the OBR raised concerns with Treasury officials about leaks to the media in the run-up to the Budget, adding: "I think it was clear that we didn't find this helpful. We made that clear."
