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Chancellor's numbers only add up because they were made up, warns leading economist

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Cite

Rojas, J. P. F. (2026, October 29). Chancellor's numbers only add up because they were made up, warns leading economist. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/money/markets/article-16248337/Chancellors-numbers-add-warns-leading-economist.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

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Daily Mail · collected 2026-10-29 · by John-Paul Ford Rojas

Quick Summary

Leading economist Paul Johnson criticizes Chancellor John Healey for using unrealistic assumptions about future spending cuts to meet fiscal targets outlined in the recent Budget. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) acknowledges that soaring energy prices since August have made its economic forecasts outdated, reducing headroom from £24 billion to £15 billion. Johnson and other economists argue that Healey's budget figures are overly optimistic and fail to provide necessary certainty and stability for business and the economy.
Written by AI on 2026-10-31, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 28, 2026, British Chancellor John Healey presented his first autumn budget under Prime Minister Andy Burnham's premiership in response to high inflation and increased government spending levels. The budget included a £1bn allocation for social and affordable housing across England, bringing the total funding for the government’s 10-year homes program past £40bn. Additionally, Healey announced plans to devolve more power and funding to local leaders in England through a new £285m "good growth" funding package and a £1.5bn borrowing facility to support local projects until 2028 when some income tax revenue will be directly handed over to local areas.

However, the budget also raised concerns as it included higher taxes on banks, which critics warn could raise mortgage rates, potentially harming homeowners. Moreover, there was criticism that the scale of the spending did not match previous rhetoric about radical reform, with many in Westminster questioning whether the budget adequately addresses the economic challenges posed by global turmoil, particularly the US's war with Iran.

Written for “Chancellor's Budget U-turns” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 119 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans strongly left (beta estimate) Confidence high 1 quote(s) discarded as not found in the article
Leaning: leans strongly left for article 114194 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-31

Story

📰 Chancellor's Budget U-turns
Politics · 120 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly left and hedges 19% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this Hedges 0 of 24 claims Outlet record 68/100
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 2 of 27 claims Outlet record 65/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the Chancellor's budget and response to criticism, not a single specific incident.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 3 of 59 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of Chancellor John Healey's budget and economic policies; Article A focuses on criticisms about made-up numbers and fiscal targets, while Article B reports voter reactions to the budget measures.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 1 of 25 claims Outlet record 65/100
“While both articles discuss John Healey's budget announcement, Article A focuses on detailing his spending pledges and economic announcements made during a specific event or presentation, while Article B critiques those same announcements but does not describe the same specific incident as Article A.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left further right than this Hedges 8 of 72 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the Chancellor's budget and its reception, but do not describe the exact same incident occurring at the same time.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 4 of 34 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles discuss different criticisms of Chancellor John Healey's budget and economic policies on separate days.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans left further right than this Hedges 1 of 29 claims Outlet record 65/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of John Healey's budget announcement; Article A provides a summary of his announcements, while Article B criticizes the economic credibility of those announcements.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans left further right than this Hedges 1 of 28 claims Outlet record 65/100
“The articles discuss related aspects of John Healey's budget announcement but do not describe the same specific incident or outcome.”
The Guardian
Hedges 3 of 14 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss criticisms of Chancellor John Healey's budget and economic forecasts on the same day, they describe different aspects and sources of criticism.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
26
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
19%
5 of 26 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
68/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
120
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-31 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 8489 article(s) · 20 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 20 correction(s)

Who wrote this

John-Paul Ford Rojas
10 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 It was claimed that the Chancellor was only able to meet fiscal targets by pencilling in billions of pounds in spending cuts that few believe will take place. And the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the outlook for public finances would have looked even worse if it had factored in the most recent increases in global oil and gas costs.
🔮 Families face getting poorer over the next two years as they are squeezed by the rising cost of living and higher taxes according to ‘grim’ Budget forecasts.
🔮 New analysis by accounting giant EY suggests the Chancellor’s borrowing headache will go from bad to worse unless the Strait of Hormuz is reopened to oil and gas shipments.
🔮 Billionaires with £120billion to their names have fled high-tax Britain since Labour came to power and there could be worse to come, analysis has revealed.
🔮 The rise in UK borrowing costs has continued unabated since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister, despite his repeated insistence that he will stick to fiscal rules that oblige the government to target lower borrowing and debt.
🔮 It means that the Treasury is paying a higher rate of interest to the investors who finance the UK government – which will make it harder for Mr Burnham’s chancellor to make the sums add when he delivers next month’s Budget.
🔮 Matt Swannell, chief economic adviser to forecaster ITEM Club, said the Bank of England data represented 'tentative evidence that people are using credit to lean against the squeeze on household spending power'.
🔮 The report warns that without action, jobs will be lost too quickly for them to be replaced by new roles in the renewables industry such as wind farms.
🔮 - See more This is Money on Google - save us as a Preferred Source The Bank of England yesterday stood its ground as the last major central bank to resist interest rate increases despite growing inflation pressures. Governor Andrew Bailey signalled a hike could be on the way but fought shy of taking action for now – even after counterparts in the US and Europe did so. It came as the Bank plans to pause its sales of UK bonds in a move that surprised markets and lowered Government borrowing costs.
🔮 Without a plan for tax hikes and spending cuts of around £40billion, they will 'inherit the mortgage without the house', the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said.
Also by John-Paul Ford Rojas
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 10 articles by John-Paul Ford Rojas →

Topics

Budget Iran NHS OBR the Office for Budget Responsibility

Subjects

Budget ORG · 4× OBR ORG · 3× Healey PERSON · 2× Raja PERSON · 2× Iran GPE · 1× John Healey PERSON · 1× Labour ORG · 1× NHS ORG · 1× Paul Johnson PERSON · 1× the Office for Budget Responsibility ORG · 1×

Narrative

It was claimed that the Chancellor was only able to meet fiscal targets by pencilling in billions of pounds in spending cuts that few believe will take place. And the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the outlook for public finances would have looked even worse if it had factored in the most recent increases in global oil and gas costs.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-31
🔮 It was claimed that the Chancellor was only able to meet fiscal targets by pencilling in billions of pounds in spending cuts that few believe will take place. And the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the outlook for public finances would have looked even worse if it had factored in the most recent increases in global oil and gas costs.

Claims (26 extracted, 5 hedged)

John Healey was last night accused of using ‘made up numbers’ to balance the books as the Budget watchdog admitted soaring energy prices meant its figures were already out of date. asserted
figures → accuse → date
It was claimed that the Chancellor was only able to meet fiscal targets by pencilling in billions of pounds in spending cuts that few believe will take place. And the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the outlook for public finances would have looked even worse if it had factored in the most recent increases in global oil and gas costs. asserted
it → claim → costs
Mr Healey’s ‘headroom’ – the buffer against meeting fiscal rules – has already shrunk from £24 billion in the spring to £15 billion as the impact of the Iran war on inflation and growth bites. asserted
impact → meet → inflation
The Chancellor said: ‘That is what a buffer is for: use it when you need it, rebuild it when you can.’ asserted
you → say → it
Yet even the deteriorating picture of the public finances was based on the idea that so-called ‘unprotected’ spending will fall sharply. asserted
spending → deteriorate → idea
Healey's calculations are already out of date thanks to soaring energy prices, a leading economist said While budgets for the likes of the NHS, schools and overseas aid are ringfenced, others – from prisons to the police – can in theory face big reductions. asserted
others → soar → reductions
It means that, until a government spending review next year, Labour’s Budget figures are based on the assumption that those areas will face three years of 2.6 per cent real terms cuts. asserted
areas → mean → cuts
Paul Johnson, former director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, protested that it was unrealistic. asserted
it → protest → Studies
Mr Johnson, now provost at Queen’s College Oxford and chief economist at the 2030 Prosperity Alliance – a group of economists and business leaders - said: ‘This Budget represents myopia on steroids. ‘ asserted
Budget → say → steroids
A claim that the fiscal rules are being kept to, but a claim based in almost certainly fanciful “plans” to slash many areas of public service spending in from 2028 onwards. uncertain
rules → keep → 2028
‘The numbers add up because the numbers were made up. asserted
numbers → add → ?
If business and the country need some certainty and stability to help with growth, this Budget did not provide it.’ asserted
Budget → need → it
The public finance picture was made worse because of soaring oil and gas prices. asserted
picture → make → prices
Yet it used energy market figures dating back to the middle of August, since when prices have risen even further. asserted
prices → use → when
The OBR said the gap between that window and the Budget itself was larger than usual after the Treasury asked for ‘greater policy decision-making time’. asserted
Treasury → say → time
OBR economist David Miles noted that prices were now ‘pretty substantially higher’. asserted
prices → note → ?
Back then, oil prices were up by 35 per cent and gas had doubled compared to before the war. asserted
gas → double → war
But now, oil is 70 per cent up and gas has tripled since the start of the conflict. asserted
gas → triple → conflict
That suggested the public finance forecasts were now ‘somewhat optimistic’ and should be closer to a ‘severe’ scenario which wiped £17 billion off the headroom. uncertain
which → suggest → headroom
Sanjay Raja, chief UK economist at Deutsche Bank, said: ‘Big spending decisions loom in the new year.’ asserted
decisions → say → year
On top of the spending review, the Chancellor will need to find more money to pay for Andy Burnham’s plan for a national care service as well as higher defence spending, which could leave him with a ‘fiscal hole’ of up to £40 billion in the new year, Mr Raja said. uncertain
Raja → need → year
That could ‘raise concerns around the credibility of projected fiscal tightening’, he added. uncertain
he → raise → tightening
Mr Raja added: ‘For now, the Chancellor has bought himself more time, but the UK is walking an increasingly fine fiscal line, with the harder choices still to come.’ asserted
choices → add → line
If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. uncertain
This → take → commission
These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. asserted
they → choose → team
This does not affect our editorial independence. asserted
This → affect → independence
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