Rachel Reeves is facing widespread accusations that in a speech from Downing Street on 4 November in which she laid the groundwork for tax rises, she misled the country and led the public to believe the fiscal situation was worse than it actually was.

Asked directly by Sky's Trevor Phillips if she lied, she said: "Of course I didn't."

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Ms Reeves said the decision by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to review and downgrade productivity meant the forecast for tax receipts was £16bn lower than expected.

As a result, she said she needed tax rises to create more fiscal headroom (the amount by which government can increase spending or cut taxes without breaking its own fiscal rules) to reassure the financial markets and create stability in the economy.

But the OBR has said it told the chancellor in its forecast on 31 October that there was a £4.2bn budget surplus, rather than a black hole following the productivity downgrade, and Trevor challenged her on why she did not say that to the nation and argue that more headroom was needed.

She replied: "I said in that speech that I wanted to achieve three things in the budget - tackling the cost of living, which is why I took £150 off of energy bills and froze prescription charges and rail fares.

"I wanted to continue to cut NHS waiting lists, which is why I protected NHS spending. And I wanted to bring the debt and the borrowing down, which is one of the reasons why I increased the headroom.

"£4bn of headroom would not have been enough, and it would not give the Bank of England space to continue to cut interest rates."

Ms Reeves also said: "In the context of a downgrade in our productivity, which cost £16bn, I needed to increase taxes, and I was honest and frank about that in the speech that I gave at the beginning of November."

She confirmed that the prime minister was aware of the fiscal forecasts and what she was going to say in her speech on 4 November about the challenges facing the UK economy, saying: "Keir [Starmer] and myself met regularly to discuss the budget and the choices, because these are the choices of this government.

"And I'm really proud of the choices that we made - to cut waiting lists, to cut inflation, and to build up that resilience in our economy."

Tax rises 'not on scale of last year'

Following her budget last year, in which she raised taxes, the chancellor was explicit to Trevor that she would "never need to do that again" or "come back for more".

But Ms Reeves did raise taxes by freezing income tax thresholds until 2031, and implementing a range of smaller tax rises totalling £26bn, so Trevor put to her that what she said last year was not true.

She replied: "The budget this year was not on the scale of the one last year, but as I set out in my speech at the beginning of November, the context for this budget did change and I did have to ask people to contribute more."

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She conceded that it is "true" that she said she wouldn't have to raise taxes, and has now done so, but said it was "for reasons not in my control", pointing to the OBR's decision to conduct a productivity review.

But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch hit out at the chancellor's handling of the economy, telling Trevor: "I think the chancellor has been doing a terrible job. She's made a mess of the economy, and [...] she has told lies. This is a woman who, in my view, should be resigning."

'I am choosing children'

Ms Reeves also told Trevor that she is "proud to be the chancellor that lifts half a million kids out of poverty" through her decision to lift the two-child cap on benefits from April, which was brought in by the Conservatives in 2017 and meant parents could only claim universal credit or tax credits for their first two children.

Trevor put to her polling that shows that while 84% of Labour members are in favour of scrapping the cap, just 37% of those who voted Labour in 2024 think it should be scrapped.

And asked if she is choosing party over country, the chancellor replied: "I am choosing children, Trevor. This lifts more than half a million children out of poverty, combined with our changes on free breakfast clubs, extending free school meals, 30 hours [of] free childcare for working parents of pre-school age children.

"You can put up those percentages, but the people I was thinking about were kids who I know in my constituency, who go to school hungry and go to bed in cold and damp homes. And from April next year, those parents will have a bit more support to help their kids."

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper told Trevor that her party backs the decision, saying: " First of all, we think it is morally the right thing to do. And secondly, because it saves money for the taxpayer in the longer term, because we know that children growing up in poverty end up costing the taxpayer more because they have worse health outcomes, worse educational outcomes as well."

But she added that they are "deeply concerned" about "this double whammy stealth tax on both households and on high streets".

'We need growth in our economy'

But the Tory leader hit out at the decision, telling Trevor that lifting the two-child benefit cap is "not the way" to lift children out of poverty, and saying that it means the government is "taxing a lot of people who are struggling to pay for those on benefits".

Ms Badenoch said: "About half a million families are going to be getting an uptick of about £5,000. Many other people don't have £5,000 lying around.

"We believe that people on benefits should have to make the same decisions about having children as everybody else. And remember, we're not talking about child benefits here. We're talking about the universal credit element of it. You get child benefit for as many children as you have.

"But at some point, someone needs to draw a line somewhere."

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Ms Badenoch argued that the way to ensure children are not in poverty is to "make sure that their parents have jobs and that those jobs pay well", and said the level of unemployment has increased "every single month" since Labour came to office in July 2024.

"What we need is growth in our economy. Simply taking out from people who are struggling and giving to a different group of people is not making the economy better," she said.

Police said four people had died and 10 were wounded in the incident in Stockton, about 60 miles east of San Francisco.

Officers were called on Saturday to a banquet hall just before 6pm local time (2am UK time) and district attorney Ron Freitas said children were among the dead.

He said the attacker was still at large.

"We can confirm at this time that approximately 14 individuals were struck by gunfire, and four victims have been confirmed deceased," San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office said on X.

The post said early indications suggest it could be a "targeted incident" but that information remains limited.

Police have so far not disclosed the attacker's identity and the motive is unclear.

Stockton's vice mayor Jason Lee confirmed on Facebook that the shooting on Lucile Avenue happened at a child's birthday party.

Mayor Christina Fugazzi said that "families should be together instead of at the hospital, standing next to their loved one, praying that they survive".

California governor Gavin Newsom's office added that he had been briefed on the "horrific shooting".

Three people have also died in Malaysia, officials have said, due to the extreme weather in South Asia and Southeast Asia.

In total, Indonesian officials said 442 people had died and Thai authorities reported 170 deaths in the southern part of the country, as of midday UK time on Sunday.

Rescue efforts were ongoing throughout the day, with more than four million people affected - almost three million in Southern Thailand and 1.1 million in Western Indonesia - by the effects of a tropical storm formed in the Malacca Strait.

Indonesian relief and rescue teams have used helicopters to deliver aid to people they could not access because of blocked roads on the western island of Sumatra.

Many areas have been cut off, while damage to telecommunications infrastructure has hampered communications.

Officials said on Saturday that they had received reports of people looting supply lines as they grow desperate for relief in other areas.

Hat Yai, the largest city in Thailand's Songkhla province, received 335mm (13 inches) of rain on Friday last week, its highest single-day tally in 300 years.

After days of rain, meteorological authorities in Malaysia lifted tropical storm and continuous rain warnings there yesterday, forecasting clear skies for most of the country.

However, there are still about 18,700 people in evacuation centres, according to the country's national disaster management agency.

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More than 200 dead in Sri Lanka

Across the Bay of Bengal, Sri Lanka's disaster management centre said in a situation report on Sunday that 212 people had died as a result of Cyclone Ditwah.

Another 218 people have been recorded as missing across the South Asian country's 25 districts, and more than half a million people have been affected nationwide.

The ban was imposed after the force in Birmingham concluded that the visit of Maccabi was too "high risk" to allow visiting fans amid inflamed community tensions over the Gaza war.

And the decision will be challenged by the Home Affairs Select Committee on Monday when leaders from the force are questioned by MPs.

It comes as Sky News can reveal officers only classified Thursday's Europa League match between Aston Villa and BSC Young Boys as "medium risk" despite three UEFA disciplinary cases against the Swiss club since 2023 for fan unrest, including partial stadium bans being imposed.

And some of those Young Boys fans then fought with police and a Villa player was left bloodied by a plastic cup being thrown.

West Midlands Police has not explained in any more detail about the lower classification for the Young Boys match.

While Maccabi has not been hit with any UEFA disciplinary cases recently for hooliganism, the club's Europa League game at Ajax in November 2024 raised concerns in Birmingham about the ability to allow Israeli fans.

Understanding it means going back to November 2024 - and the days of disorder around Maccabi's Europa League match against Ajax.

It's this incident that had to be assessed by authorities in England when deciding how to police Maccabi's visit to Villa this month.

But the accuracy of this assessment has been called into question.

Sky News has heard in depth from Dutch police about what they told officers in England about the threat posed by the Israeli supporters in a video call at the start of October.

What's not doubted by the police or indeed Maccabi is that Israeli ultras - more violent fans - were involved in attacks and anti-Palestinian chants in Amsterdam. They armed themselves with belts and padlocks, attacking taxis and scooter-riders.

Contradictions in police accounts

But there are some apparent contradictions between the accounts of the two forces.

In dispute are elements of a document produced by West Midlands Police to justify advice to Birmingham's Safety Advisory Group, which has been leaked.

It effectively set out why Maccabi fans were deemed too dangerous to be allowed into Villa.

A key claim from West Midlands Police is that 500 to 600 Maccabi fans apparently intentionally targeted Muslim communities in Amsterdam. Amsterdam police says there were 500 to 800 high-risk Maccabi supporters.

Muslims 'not targeted' by large groups of visiting fans

But the force told me: "We did not see large groups of Maccabi's (fans) going into Muslim populated areas to target Muslims."

Asked to clarify, it added: "Provocations came from both sides. This all happened in the city centre. That's not the same as a large group (of) Maccabi (fans) going into a Muslim populated area to target Muslims."

Amsterdam police also made no reference in a detailed timeline provided to us of the notable claim by West Midlands Police that Maccabi fans threw "innocent members of the public into the river".

The five people convicted in Amsterdam were all for violence against Israelis.

It is not clear why no Israeli fans were prosecuted, given that the Amsterdam police cited in detail attacks by them.

'Offensive, racist expressions'

"Compared to other European high-risk football supporters, Amsterdam police makes the assessment that the Maccabi supporters were quite self-confident and were not afraid - neither of opponents, nor of the police," the timeline provided to us said.

It goes on to highlight "offensive, racist expressions" in Hebrew shouted by Maccabi fans.

It turns to the situation towards the city centre after the match.

Referencing "Maccabi Tel Aviv rioters", it says: "Along the way, they equip themselves with materials such as metal rods and stones. Stones are also thrown at taxis.

"At the same time, another development takes place: small groups of pro-Palestinian rioters actively search for individuals they perceive as Israeli, Jewish or Maccabi supporters. At 23.55pm, the first 'flash' attacks on Maccabi supporters begin at Dam Square.

"Several dozen violent incidents in the city centre follow. The pro-Palestinian rioters use various methods to reach their victims: some move on foot; others use scooters or taxis to move quickly through the city.

"This makes it difficult for the police to intervene quickly and effectively. This proves to be a fundamentally different form of violence compared to earlier situations, which involved clashes between groups facing each other.

"From 1.24am onward, reports of attacks decrease, but fear among Jewish residents of Amsterdam and Israeli tourists remains high. Multiple reports come in of people feeling unsafe and not daring to leave their hotels."

A West Midlands Police document does say there was evidence of "incitement to attack Jewish fans", but they largely overlook what officers in Amsterdam said was the threat posed to the Maccabi contingent.

The force had to assess the resources needed for the match.

It claims 5,000 officers had to be deployed in Amsterdam. But the Dutch police confirmed to us there were only 1,200 police deployed.

It's raising new questions for the Aston Villa-supporting Tory MP Nick Timothy - a former Home Office special adviser - about the characterisation of Maccabi fans.

"This isn't just about a football match," Mr Timothy told Sky News. "This isn't just about the rights of the Israeli supporters to come to Britain and watch their team. This is about whether we can trust the police to do their job without fear or favour, as the police oath requires them to do. And whether we can trust them to tell us the truth.

"They've presented an intelligence report that they say is based on information provided by the Dutch. The Dutch say that that information is not true".

Read more on Sky News:
'False claims' fuelled fan ban
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West Midlands Police said in a statement it is "satisfied in the veracity of our information and intelligence, which put public safety at the heart of our decision-making.

"We will be giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on Monday 1 December and therefore it would be inappropriate to make further comment at this time."

The only time the force has so far explained the decision on camera was in an interview with me on the day of the Villa match when Chief Superintendent Tom Joyce highlighted "quite significant levels of hooliganism" among Maccabi fans.

He said banning supporters is not a "precedent but it's one we would use rarely, clearly".

Few policing decisions have been as contentious, as scrutinised this year, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer this week expressing fresh concern about the evidence used to ban by officers.

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