Prime Minister Keir Starmer is tightening control over the government’s economic strategy by strengthening a cross-government Budget Board that will shape the Autumn Statement on 26 November.
The board, which will meet weekly, is designed to ensure closer coordination between No 10 and the Treasury after criticism of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s first Budget, which drew backlash from business groups over steep tax rises.
The new structure will be co-chaired by Torsten Bell, pensions minister and former director of the Resolution Foundation, and Minouche Shafik, Starmer’s recently appointed chief economic adviser.
The committee will also include Katie Martin, Reeves’s chief of staff, tasked with managing relations with business; Varun Chandra, No 10’s business envoy; Darren Jones, the new Chief Secretary to the Treasury; and Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney.
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