Paul Waugh

Paul Waugh

Labour (Co-op) — Rochdale

Speaking in the House of Commons on 1 December 2025

Debate

Office for Budget Responsibility Forecasts

Contribution

Mr Speaker, you were rightly furious last week when this OBR report was prematurely leaked to the public and the markets. It is clear from the independent report that this was an accident waiting to happen due to pre-existing cyber-security failures—pre-existing failures that may well have laid open previous Budgets to this kind of access, which should concern the Conservative party as much as any other party. This is about the integrity of the OBR. The non-executive directors of the OBR, Baroness Hogg—who is totally independent—and Dame Susan Rice, both conclude that “ultimate responsibility…rests…with the leadership of the OBR.” I would not expect the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to say whether he has confidence in the chair of the OBR, but is it not clear that those non-executive directors lack that confidence?

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