LABOUR has criticised Liz Truss for planning to hold an emergency budget without running the figures past the independent spending watchdog.

Sir Keir Starmer said the Tory leadership frontrunner must work with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) before shaking up the public finances. 

A senior Tory MP also said a Truss government would be “flying blind” without the checks.

It followed weekend reports that Ms Truss will bypass the OB if she becomes prime minister next month on the grounds she is pressed for time.

An emergency budget has been pencilled in for late September to address the cost of living crisis driven by rampant inflation and runaway energy bills.

The OBR would normally take around 10 weeks to analyse the impact of tax and spending plans, however it has said it could cope with an emergency budget as well.

It normally forecasts how changes affect the rich and poor, which could be awkward for Ms Truss if she pushes ahead with tax cuts likely to benefit the affluent most.

Speaking in Walthamstow in north London, Sir Keir said: “We need an emergency budget. We should have had that months ago, to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. 

“But the OBR is there to make sure that money is spent wisely and properly. So of course you need the OBR in place for that.

“That is why there has been such a reaction to Liz Truss’ proposal that she is going to just put that to one side.”

The Labour leader said people wanted to know what the Government was going to do about the cost-of-living crisis, with Labour “leading” on the issue.

“Labour is leading on this, we have said freeze those bills this winter, make sure people don’t pay any more for their energy.”

Tory MP Mel Stride, who chairs the Commons Treasury Committee, and a supporter of Ms Truss’s rival Rishi Sunak, also warned not to ignore the OBR.

“At the moment the Liz camp are saying I believe that there will not be any OBR forecast produced at that time and that is kind of like flying blind,” he told LBC..

“It means that you do all these dramatic things on tax etcetera but you don’t actually know what the independent forecaster believes the impact will be on the public finances and I think that is quite a serious situation were that to come about.”

Asked if OBR scrutiny would be bureaucratic in a time of crisis, Mr Stride said: “No. We are asking for transparency and reassurance that whoever wins this contest comes forward with is affordable and not reckless.”

Mr Sunak’s campaign called on Ms Truss to “come clean”, and claimed her plans to borrow in order to fund tax cuts were “dangerous”.

The Fioreign Secretary argues tax cuts will help to boost the economy and prosperity.

A Truss campaign spokesman said: “The cost-of-living crisis means immediate action is required. A Truss government would seek to act as soon as possible to help people across the UK, by cutting taxes and introducing a temporary moratorium on energy levies.”

The OBR usually requires 10 weeks to carry out an analysis of Government economic proposals, such as the Budget or Spring Statement.

Under this timeline, an OBR forecast of the emergency budget may not be possible until November.