Initial reactions and leak controversy

The rocket of right thinking is back for a crucial Budget Special as Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveils her second major fiscal statement. Her new £30 billion tax rise means a staggering £70 billion increase in just two years, the most "punitive tax raising budget in more than three decades".

Joining the co-pilots to dissect the numbers is the brilliant Telegraph columnist, Roger Bootle. Roger reveals why he thinks the budget will land "very badly with business" and discusses the "scandalous" leak of the Statement beforehand.

Co-Pilot Pearson calls it a "death knell budget for Labour" and argues that by funnelling huge amounts of money into the welfare bill, Reeves has confirmed it is now the party of the "Shirking class". 

Whilst Co-Pilot Halligan identifies the "ghost" of the Employment Rights Bill looming over the budget, dubbed by some as the "Unemployment Rights Bill," warns that this "back to the seventies" extension of rights will be disastrous for hiring.

You can watch today's episode, which we filmed in the studios at Telegraph towers: https://youtu.be/ZrIXGoJGkBU

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Read Allison ‘Dear Rachel, do you have any clue how much hard-working people are struggling?’:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/26/allison-pearson-on-rachel-reeves-budget/ |

Read Allison ‘I asked people if my Reform badge made me look like a Nazi and they howled with laughter’:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/25/allison-pearson-reform-badge-nazis/ |

Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | 

Read Liam ‘Reeves’s endless tax scaremongering is killing off animal spirits’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/11/23/rachel-reeves-scaremongering-taxes-killed-off-spirits/ |

Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |

Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |

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