Speaker writes to PM about 'worrying' Budget leaks

House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle says the Budget "should be sacrosanct'

Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle has said he was "very disappointed" by leaks ahead of the Budget.

After a raft of potential measures were floated by the government, the Speaker said he had written to the prime minister and questioned whether there was even a need for Wednesday's Budget to take place.

Claiming leaks were an "appalling" breach of the ministerial code, Sir Lindsay said in the past "if you were leaking a Budget, you would've been sacked," adding: "You would've been asked to resign."

Earlier, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander denied leaks had damaged the economy, something Sir Lindsay disputed: "The fact it's had an effect on the markets is very, very worrying."

He told BBC Radio Lancashire: "I find it appalling that what we've seen is kite-flying of different issues for people to say, 'I like that' or 'I don't like that'.

"You can't run a Budget in a way that you do opinion polls. It shouldn't be like that.

"The Budget is something special that should be released to MPs at the moment they go into the chamber.

"The Chancellor stands up for the first time to tell the audience - and the audience is MPs, not the BBC or Sky News.

"This is about an audience for MPs."

'Effect on markets'

The Chorley MP said the Budget "should be sacrosanct and it should only be heard today".

He added: "The fact it's had an effect on the markets is very, very worrying. What will we know in the Budget?

"The other thing I would say is there's been so much said, I'm not sure we even need the Budget today.

"I am very disappointed. The problem is, it's a breach of the ministerial code and I haven't got ownership of the ministerial code, the prime minister has.

"If it was me that was in charge, I think we might not have seen any more leaks."

In response to Sir Lindsay's comments, a HM Treasury spokesperson said: "The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast has been published today... as has been previously announced and the Chancellor has responded to it in Parliament on behalf of the government.

"This is the right and proper way of well-established processes being observed."

Meanwhile, the OBR accidentally revealed key details of Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Budget about 40 minutes before she stood up to deliver it.

The OBR apologised for the "technical error" in publishing the OBR document and said it was investigating how it happened.

Reeves said it was "deeply disappointing" and a "serious error on their part".