City commentator warns Reeves' Budget delay risks investment and market volatility

Alex Brummer, consultant editor, warned that Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to postpone the next Budget until late November risks a further blow to investment and could exacerbate recent market volatility.

In a column published Thursday, Brummer said the delay — officially pushing the Budget back to Nov. 26 rather than holding it sooner — and the arrival of additional economic advisers drawn largely from the Resolution Foundation create a danger of groupthink and a lack of senior City or business experience in shaping fiscal policy. He argued that the Government’s hesitancy has coincided with a period of "bond markets in turmoil" and a summer of disruptive speculation affecting wealth, housing, pensions and banks.

Brummer wrote that the longer fiscal decisions are postponed, the harder it will be for the Chancellor to deliver her stated mission of renewal and growth. He pointed to earlier measures from Reeves’s first major policy push in July 2024 as evidence of policy missteps, saying some actions were "ill-conceived" and had to be reversed. As examples he cited the proposed abolition of the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, which was later reversed, and the cancellation of a planned super-computer at the University of Edinburgh.

The columnist suggested that advisers with senior private-sector experience would have warned that delaying hard choices would increase risk in financial markets and undermine investor confidence. He characterized the incoming policy experts from the Resolution Foundation as part of a "narrow gene pool," saying that a lack of diverse economic perspectives could lead to policy errors.

Reeves announced the Budget postponement amid an unsettled economic backdrop. Brummer said the cumulative effect of policy uncertainty and market speculation this summer has had tangible implications for household wealth and financial institutions, although he did not provide independent market data in the column.

The commentary reflects concerns in some City circles that fiscal uncertainty can amplify market stress, particularly in the gilt market, and that delays in setting a clear fiscal path may complicate efforts to spur investment. Brummer urged the Chancellor to stop deferring difficult decisions and to engage advisers with private-sector experience to avoid further damage to investment prospects.

Reeves’s office has framed the delay as allowing more time to produce a considered and credible fiscal plan. Government statements have emphasized the need to balance investment, growth priorities and fiscal sustainability, and to avoid hasty measures that could risk public finances. The Treasury did not immediately respond to Brummer’s column.

Market participants and economists have expressed a range of views this year about fiscal timing, the appropriate composition of advisers and the risks posed by rapid policy shifts. Brummer’s column adds to that debate by focusing on the potential costs of delay and the value of diverse expertise in shaping fiscal strategy.

As the Nov. 26 date for the Budget approaches, political and market attention is likely to sharpen on whether the Government will adopt measures to reassure investors and businesses, and how it plans to combine near-term support with longer-term growth priorities. Brummer concluded that postponement without decisive, broadly informed policy choices risks making the Chancellor’s objectives more difficult to achieve.