The chancellor promises more money in people’s pockets, but the Iran crisis makes steeper inflation a pressing worry

Rachel Reeves used her spring statement to insist her economic policies are working and things are looking up for household finances after the cost of living crisis.

The chancellor said that by the next general election “people will be over £1,000 a year better off”. But against the backdrop of war in the Middle East, financial experts warned that the new economic forecasts published alongside her statement might have already been overtaken by events.