THE TREASURY has defended the leaks of key proposals from the Chancellor’s budget ahead of his address to the Commons tomorrow.
Chief secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke was asked about the number of announcements that have been made prior to the Chancellor delivering his spending overview to the public.
It is normal parliamentary procedure to make any major announcements, such as new policies or spending decisions, in the house of commons before MPs rather than release details in the press.
However the Conservative government under Boris Johnson has come under fire repeatedly from the Commons speaker and opposition politicians for doing so in the past, with the Treasury spat just the latest in a string of rows about the issue.
Budget briefing began properly over the weekend, when it was announced by some newspapers that the Chancellor would be giving the NHS an additional £6bn to tackle waiting lists built up over the pandemic.
It was also revealed yesterday that the national minimum wage level would go up by 59p, along with the minimum hourly pay levels for apprentices and those aged between 21 and 22.
Today the Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle told MPs: “I have repeatedly stated in the clearest possible terms that important announcements should be made by the Government first in this House rather than outside it.
“I did so again yesterday in relation to the briefings issued to the media about the Budget. I was therefore disappointed to see more stories in the media today with apparently very well-briefed information about what will be in tomorrow’s Budget.”
He said he ‘felt sorry’ for Mr Clarke who had to answer for the Treasury, but added: “ It is not more important to go on the news in the morning; it is more important to come here.
“Let us get the message across that these elected Members represent this United Kingdom. It is not done through Sky TV.”
Labour MP Angela Eagle accused the Conservatives of treating parliament with contempt in an angry contribution to the debate.
She said Mr Clarke and Chancellor Sunak should be “shamed” and should apologise, adding; “As an Opposition, we cannot look in detail at the slew—the blizzard—of Budget announcements that have been going on week after week, because we do not have the OBR report and we do not have the detail.
“This is treating parliamentary democracy with utter contempt and the Minister should be completely ashamed of himself.”
Mr Clarke said that the Treasury had released information in advance to “ help communicate to the public what we are doing with their hard-earned money, because we believe there is merit in clear and accurate information.”
He added: “The bulk of the detail of the Budget will be delivered by the Chancellor himself at this Dispatch Box tomorrow. Importantly, that includes all market-sensitive information.”
Alison Thewliss, SNP MP and the party’s finance spokeswoman, said the Chancellor’s priorities were wrong and his budget had failed already before he had even announced it.
She said: “None of it is what the Government and the Chancellor should be doing in the Budget speech.
“They should be reinstating the £20 universal credit cut; scrapping the national insurance tax on jobs; tackling the spiralling cost-of-living crisis; and supporting hospitality and tourism with a VAT cut to see them through the winter months and into next year.”
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