Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been offered “very little Christmas cheer” after official figures showed higher-than-forecast government borrowing for November. Elliott Jordan-Doak, senior UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said there was “very little Christmas cheer for the Chancellor” in the latest figures. The figure was pushed lower thanks to falling debt interest payments on borrowing, down by £200 million year-on-year to £3.4 billion and the lowest November level for six years. He said: “£1 in every £10 we spend goes on debt interest – money that could otherwise be invested in public services. “Yet at the Budget, Labour chose even more reckless spending, piling up ever higher debt,” he said.

Source: The Guardian December 19, 2025 13:51 UTC