LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - British government bonds fell on Tuesday, reversing the previous day's gains, after Bank of England chief economist Huw Pill expressed caution about the prospect of early rate cuts.

Although "the passage of time" means a first rate cut is likely to be closer than it was six weeks ago, the date for this probably remains "some way off", Pill said in a speech.

Pill's comments added to a series of headwinds for gilts earlier in the day, including higher-than-expected 2023/24 government borrowing, an upward revision to 2024/25 debt issuance and stronger than expected purchasing managers' data.

Only an unexpectedly weak U.S. S&P Purchasing Managers' Index lifted gilts off their day's low, which at one point had interest rate-sensitive two-year yields 8 basis points higher on the day at 4.406%.

At 1520 GMT, benchmark 10-year gilt yields were 5 bps higher on the day at 4.26%, underperforming U.S. 10-year Treasuries by more than 8 basis points.

Financial markets price in 24 bps of cuts by the time of the BoE's Aug. 1 meeting - having more than fully priced in a quarter-point cut on Monday - and see 52 bps of cuts by the end of the year.

Expectations for a rate cut had been boosted by BoE Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden, who said on Friday he thought it possible that inflation would hold at 2% over the next three years, rather than rebound later in 2024 as the BoE had forecast.

However, Pill and Monetary Policy Committee member Jonathan Haskel made clear this was not their view, seeing persistent inflation pressures remaining from a tight labour market.

"Huw Pill's speech from today shows no change in his view, likely reflecting that the majority of MPC members are still in the 'on hold' camp, compared to the dovish shift from Ramsden last week," Shweta Singh, chief economist at investment advisors Cardano, said.

Earlier on Tuesday, flash PMI data rose to an 11-month high, above all expectations in a Reuters poll and nudging gilt yields higher. Higher wage bills, transport and raw material costs raised businesses' costs by the most in nearly a year.

Britain's Debt Management Office also revised upward its gilt issuance plans for this financial year - already the second-highest on record - to 277.7 billion pounds ($345 billion) from 265.3 billion pounds after new data showed higher-than-forecast government borrowing in 2023/24. ($1 = 0.8041 pounds) (Reporting by David Milliken Editing by Gareth Jones)