Reeves has mountain to climb in budget after borrowing rise

<p>Public finances figures contain no shocks but will underline need for either hefty tax rises or spending cuts</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/oct/21/uk-borrowing-high-september-debt-public-finances-rachel-reeves">UK borrowing reaches five-year high for September at £20.2bn</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2025/oct/21/uk-borrowing-outstrips-forecasts-reeves-amazon-web-services-outage-resolved-bank-of-england-stock-markets-business-live-news">Business live – latest updates</a></p></li></ul><p>Rachel Reeves has already seen the most significant numbers setting the backdrop for next month’s budget – the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecasts for five years’ time, when <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/mar/23/should-rachel-reevess-fiscal-rules-stay-golden-or-are-they-meant-to-be-broken">her fiscal rules</a> are judged.</p><p>But September’s public finances data, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/oct/21/uk-borrowing-high-september-debt-public-finances-rachel-reeves">published on Tuesday</a>, will hardly have lightened the mood in No 11 as she draws up plans for tax rises and spending cuts.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/oct/21/rachel-reeves-budget-borrowing-public-finances-tax-rises">Continue reading...</a>