OBR summons former spooks to investigate initial Budget spending

Thursday 27 November 2025 13.39

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The defiant Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has brought in a former expert to investigate how its overall forecast was published in advance before Rachel Reeves delivered the Budget.

In addition to the oversight board, Ciaran Martin, the former head of the National Cyber ​​Security Center – which is part of the security agency – will be involved in the investigation.

In an unprecedented compromise of Budget confidentiality, a link to the estimates document was discovered online more than 40 minutes before the Chancellor’s speech.

The OBR has apologized for the leak, which the watchdog said was caused by a “technical error”.

Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride suggested there may have been foul play in the leak, and told the Commons: “It is outrageous that this has happened and this leak may have been a criminal offence.”

The leak was the culmination of weeks of Budget briefings and coverage in the media, which were criticized ahead of Reeves’ speech by Deputy House spokesperson Nusrat Ghani.

OBR chief offers to step down

OBR Chairman Richard Hughes told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that he had apologized to the Chancellor, and that he would step down if Reeves and the Finance Committee decided that they wanted to.

“I regret the major disruption this has caused. We have initiated an investigation into what happened. This will be overseen by the chair of our board of trustees with expert input from Professor Ciaran Martin, former head of the NCSC.

“They will report to the Treasury and Treasury committees in parliament and identify the actions we are taking to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

In the final minutes apart of the Budget speech, after leaks became apparent within the Council, the Chancellor said: “It is my understanding that the Office of Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook was released on their website prior to this statement.

“This is extremely disappointing and a serious error on their part. The Office of Budget Responsibility has made a statement taking full responsibility for their violations.”