Chancellor Rachel Reeves, leaves 11 Downing Street to deliver the spring statement at the House of Commons in London, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Rachel Reeves has just unveiled a series of significant public spending decisions in her Spring Statement as she tries to balance the nation’s books.The announcement was originally intended to be an update on the UK’s finances five months after her October Budget, as the chancellor promised to only deliver one landmark intervention per year to help stabilise the economy.But despite growth being government’s “number one mission”, the UK’s economy is far from booming.The lack of growth combined with difficult fiscal forecasts forced the chancellor’s hand, especially as the “headroom”, or spare cash, she thought was in the public coffers has evaporated in the past six months.The government is also facing international pressure to spend more on defence due to the