Voters could abandon centrist parties if budget fails, warns former cabinet secretary

Simon Case says voters will look elsewhere if chancellor cannot find solutions to tax, spending and debt problems

Voters will look elsewhere if Rachel Reeves does not use next week's pivotal budget to show that centre-ground" politicians can fix the UK's entrenched economic problems, the former head of the civil service, Simon Case, has said.

Case told the Guardian that at the time of last year's general election, when he was still cabinet secretary, he believed Labour would be forced to break its manifesto promise to not raise taxes because of the state of the public finances.