Speaker Criticises Chancellor for Releasing Budget Details to Media Before MPs

Speaker of The House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle walks through the Members' Lobby at the Palace of Westminster ahead of the State Opening of Parliament in the House of Lords, London, England, on Nov. 7, 2023. Hannah McKay/PA Wire

The speaker of the House of Commons has reprimanded Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves for releasing details of the Budget to the media before disclosing them to MPs.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle said Reeves had acted with “supreme discourtesy” by failing to inform the House of Commons of the government’s plans to change fiscal rules, citing the Ministerial Code which says major policy announcements must first be made to MPs.

During a series of interviews while attending an International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in Washington last week, Reeves had confirmed that she would make a change to the way she would measure debt. This could allow the government to spend billions more on long-term infrastructure without exceeding debt targets.

Hoyle said on Monday in a statement to the House of Commons, “I am very disappointed that the Chancellor expects the House to wait nearly a full week to hear her repeat the announcements in the Budget statement on Wednesday.”

The speaker said that he had always defended the right of all parts of the House to be the first to hear major government policy announcements because “when such announcements are made, ministers should expect to face proper, sustained scrutiny from the elected Members of this House, not American news channels.”

“It is totally unacceptable to go around the world telling everyone rather than Members of this House. They were elected by the constituents of this country and they deserve to be treated better,” he added.

‘Entirely Routine’

Hoyle also questioned whether MPs would now need to attend the Budget statement on Wednesday at all.

“Members may be wondering how they will get a seat on Wednesday, but to be quite honest, the way it is going, they will not need one, as we will have heard it all already,” he said.

The speaker went on to note that when the Conservatives were in Government and had behaved in a similar manner, “it was Labour complaining to me.”

“Get your acts together, on all sides, and treat Members with respect,” he added.

Responding to the rebuke, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said it was “entirely routine for government to make announcements in the run-up to budgets and spending reviews.”

He added that the government “will also ensure that Parliament has all the requisite time to scrutinise measures clearly” in the coming days of Budget debate.

Changes Officially Announced

Hoyle’s criticisms came ahead Treasury Minister Darren Jones’s statement to the House confirming those impending changes to fiscal rules which Reeves had announced to the press last week, with the speaker noting that the timing of the delivery of the statement was “perhaps no coincidence.”

Jones said that the government will makes changes to the stability rule, with all day-to-day spending on public services being funded by tax receipts, and the investment rule, “which will get debt falling as a proportion of our economy.”

The minister said the chancellor had been listening to economists and institutions such as the IMF—which recently upgraded the UK’s growth forecast—and “that is why the Treasury has been reviewing the right measure of debt to target in the fiscal rules ahead of the upcoming Budget.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves takes applause after she addressed the Labour Party Conference at the ACC Liverpool in England on Sept. 23, 2024. Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

“The details of that policy will be announced to the House in the Chancellor’s statement on Wednesday, alongside an economic and fiscal forecast produced by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility,” Jones said, adding that the fiscal rules will be published in a draft charter for budget responsibility, on which MPs will vote in due course.

‘Tough’ Budget

The controversy over Reeves briefing the press before parliament comes as the prime minister braced the country for a “tough” Budget designed to prevent “devastating austerity” in the future.

Speaking in Birmingham on Monday, Starmer said: “This is not 1997, when the economy was decent but public services were on their knees. And it is not 2010, where public services were strong but the public finances were weak.”

“Things are worse than we could possibly have expected during the election, and the budget will set that out very clearly,” he warned.

The prime minister outlined some of the measures that Reeves would introduce on Wednesday, including pledging an additional £240 million in funding to get people who are not working and claiming benefits back into employment.

He also announced a rise in the cap on bus fares from £2 to £3 until the end of 2025, in a move that will likely impact people in rural communities and on low incomes who are dependent on public transportation.

PA Media contributed to this report.