Labour has defended disclosing aspects of the budget ahead of time, insisting it is necessary to avoid “surprising” the financial markets.
House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle issued a fierce reprimand to the government on Monday, labelling the “premature disclosure” of the budget’s content a “supreme discourtesy”.
Last week, chancellor Rachel Reeves stated her intention to alter the government’s fiscal rules at the budget in a major speech at the International Monetary Fund in Washington. The chancellor confirmed that the budget will include a new method for assessing the UK’s debt position after weeks of reporting to the effect.
The speaker said it is “unacceptable to go around the world telling everybody” about “major” new policy announcements instead of informing MPs first.
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He added: “It’s not acceptable. I don’t want it to continue and I want you to treat this House with the respect it deserves.”
‘Treat MPs with respect!’: Speaker Lindsay Hoyle reprimands Labour over budget conduct
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, defended the government from Sir Lindsay’s criticism, pointing to the example of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s “mini-budget” which he insisted “took the markets by surprise” and “tanked” the economy.
He added that Labour “takes parliament seriously” and that the government will take the Speaker’s concerns “into account”.
Referencing the announcement of new money for the NHS in the budget, Streeting told Times Radio: “Look, I can firstly confirm for the benefit of Mr Speaker, in case he’s listening, certainly, what I’m announcing today is the delivery of Labour’s manifesto, so we are honouring our commitments.
“I hope I don’t find myself on the wrong side of the speaker and, look, there’s a serious point here, which is it was important for the chancellor when she was in Washington last week to explain the context in which she’s making some big reforms to our economy and the way that she handles investment in our national infrastructure.
“That was important to make sure that this budget lands in the right context with the financial markets.”
He added: “We saw what happened with Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng when they ignored the Office for Budget Responsibility and sidelined them, when they took the markets by surprise, they ended up tanking the economy, and we are still paying the price for it.
“But we do take the speaker seriously. We take parliament seriously. We are members of parliament first and foremost, and we’ve all heard very, very clearly and plainly what Mr Speaker said yesterday, and we will certainly be taking that into account in terms of our conduct in the coming days, weeks and months.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on X/Twitter here.
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