Rachel Reeves given extra £3bn for budget after VAT error fixed

Rachel Reeves is still expected to announce tax rises in her budget next month in response to a growth downgrade by the OBR and a series of policy reversals. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Mistakes in recent public finances data mean government borrowing has been overstated by a cumulative £3bn, the Office for National Statistics has said.

In a fillip that gives Rachel Reeves a little bit more wriggle room in her November budget, the ONS said its estimates of public borrowing had been out by £200m-£500m a month since January.