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Henry Zeffman: Early Release of Budget Details Is Totally Surreal
The Office for Budget Responsibility investigates the premature release of forecasts revealing tax rises expected to raise over £14 billion, complicating the Chancellor's Budget statement.
- On Wednesday, the Office for Budget Responsibility published its economic and fiscal outlook online before Chancellor Rachel Reeves spoke, revealing Budget details early ahead of her about 12.30pm statement to the House of Commons.
- After the early posting, the OBR called it a "technical error", apologised, initiated an investigation, and said it will report to its oversight board, the Treasury, and the Commons Treasury Committee; MPs complained media briefings have grown, falling short of parliamentary standards.
- Leaked figures show the OBR analysis lists personal tax changes raising £14.9 billion in 2029-30, including £8 billion from threshold freezes and wider measures hitting £26b, with £4.7bn on pensions and £1.4bn on electric cars.
- Inside the Commons, MPs reacted as Treasury Minister Torsten Bell passed his mobile to Reeves and farmers with tractors were stopped by the Metropolitan Police near Whitehall.
- Many measures will apply across the UK and are expected to impact Scotland, while observers warned the Budget could be government-defining for Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
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Rachel Reeves’s farcical Budget
As Budget days go, today was unprecedented. The complete list of measures announced by Rachel Reeves – along with their costings and economic impacts – was leaked by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) an hour before the Chancellor took to her feet. The OBR apologised and called it a ‘technical error’. The headline is
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources33
Leaning Left3Leaning Right4Center14Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Center
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources are Center
67% Center
14%
C 67%
R 19%
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