The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Emma Reynolds, says not all departments will see real-terms increases at next year's Spending Review. She told the PoliticsHome podcast The Rundown that the government faces difficult choices to stay within its fiscal rules.
"There will be some big choices and some difficult choices at the Spending Review."
"Not all departments will see real-term increases, but obviously that is for next year, and we have to do those things in the round,"
Her words stop short of naming any department that would face a cut. They repeat almost exactly the Budget document's own warning that "it is not necessarily the case that all departments will see real terms increases at the next spending review".
Reynolds, the Labour MP for Wycombe, denied that the Budget ducked major spending decisions. She said money had already been moved "from certain big projects" towards defence to meet the target of 3% of GDP by 2030. Further reprioritisation to reach that target can only be done at the Spending Review, she said.
Her comments follow the Chancellor, John Healey, signalling this morning that departments would have to find further savings. PoliticsHome says the interview will be published on Friday.