Angela Rayner is to stand in for Keir Starmer at Prime Minister Questions ahead of chancellor Rachel Reeves presenting the new Labour Government’s Budget.
The deputy prime minister will replace Starmer, who is in Samoa for a meeting of the Commonwealth leaders.
By convention, the leader of the opposition will also stand aside and let their deputy take questions.
Reeves is preparing to announce tax and spending plans on October 30, as she seeks to close a £40bn gap in the public finances to avoid a return to austerity.
The Prime Minister has refused to increase tax on “working people” but has not ruled out increasing business contributions to national insurance.
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney said the UK Government faces a “make or break” moment in the Budget.
The leader of the SNP called for changes to fiscal rules to allow borrowing for public sector investment.
Reeves said she is “sympathetic towards the mess” Cabinet colleagues have faced after it was reported that Keir Starmer was facing backlash from his ministers over cuts that could come at the Budget.
Reeves has told the BBC it is “perfectly reasonable” that ministers “set out their case” to Number 10 and Number 11 ahead of the fiscal event, and warned problems cannot “just be magicked away”.
She said she had reached spending settlements with all government departments ahead of the Budget.
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