Rachel Reeves's first budget was leaked more than 40 minutes before she delivered it to the Commons, after the Office for Budget Responsibility accidentally published its analysis online. The breach sent ripples through financial markets, with bond prices and sterling moving as traders reacted to the early release of key fiscal details.
At 11.41am on Wednesday, Reuters alerts began appearing with headlines such as “UK OBR ECONOMIC AND FISCAL OUTLOOK: BUDGET TAX RISES RAISE 26.1 BLN STG BY 2029-30”. The OBR initially suggested the issue lay elsewhere, but within minutes Downing Street realised the watchdog had uploaded its critical economic and fiscal outlook report ahead of time.
Chancellor Reeves was seen checking her phone as the news broke, while Treasury minister Torsten Bell passed his phone down the frontbench. By the time Reeves reached the dispatch box at 12.35pm, the OBR had issued an apology and launched an internal investigation.
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride described the leak as “utterly outrageous” and suggested it could “constitute a criminal act”. OBR chair Richard Hughes said the document was “unintentionally uploaded to our website too early” and that an investigation was under way. A Whitehall insider said the mistake was “most probably down to human error”.
Metadata shows the accidentally published PDF was last modified at 3.10am on Tuesday 25 November. An economist close to the OBR said the page should have been password-protected. Hughes has said he will continue to lead the watchdog unless he loses the confidence of the chancellor, the Treasury committee or parliament. Reeves’s spokesperson said she has “full confidence” in Hughes.
