OBR Apologises After Accidentally Publishing Details Of Budget Early
2 min read
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has apologised after accidentally publishing details of the Budget before Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced them.
In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, the independent watchdog said a link to its fiscal outlook was published due to a "technical error" on Wednesday morning and has since been removed.
The OBR has launched an investigation into the leak, it said.
Opening her Budget speech in the House of Commons, Reeves said it was "deeply disappointing and a serious error on their [the OBR's] part".
Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, used a point of order before Reeves started her Budget speech to condemn the "unprecedented leak", describing it as "utterly outrageous" and claiming that it "may constitute a criminal act".
The OBR document accidentally posted online confirmed that the Labour government is lifting the two-child benefit cap.
It also revealed that Reeves will raise £26bn in tax rises, and that her fiscal headroom has grown to £22bn.
The error prompted renewed calls for OBR reform from figures who argue that the independent watchdog is no longer fit for purpose.
"It's just the latest in a long line of reasons that prove the urgent need for reform," former cabinet minister Louise Haigh told PoliticsHome.
Praful Nargund, director of the Good Growth Foundation think tank, said: “The OBR’s accidental, avoidable error is a display of incompetence, which reveals a deeper dysfunction.
“Thanks to the OBR, fiscal headroom appears and disappears overnight, forcing Chancellors into last-minute decisions shaped by short-term forecasts instead of long-term strategy. The OBR has become the tail that wags the dog."
Speaking on PoliticsHome podcast The Rundown last month, former Tory chancellor Jeremy Hunt defended the OBR and its head, Richard Hughes, saying that doing away with the body would be a "stupid thing to do".
