Starmer accused of forcing out OBR head for ‘telling the truth’ about Reeves’ Budget lies in PMQs hammering – and urged to sack Chancellor
Keir Starmer was today accused of forcing out the OBR head for ‘telling the truth’ about the Chancellor’s Budget lies.
In bitter clashes at PMQs, Kemi Badenoch repeatedly battered the PM over the chaos engulfing the fiscal package.
She insisted Rachel Reeves – who was sat next to the premier – would have been sacked by now if she was the CEO of a company. Mrs Badenoch suggested she might even have faced prosecution for ‘market abuse’.
The Tory leader said Richard Hughes had been ousted as chief of the Treasury watchdog for exposing that Ms Reeves had been told months ago that there was no black hole in the public finances.
Mr Hughes was ‘forced out for telling the truth that the Chancellor did not need to raise tax on working people’, she jibed.
But Sir Keir hit back that Ms Badenoch was ‘completely losing the plot’, saying Mr Hughes had ‘made very clear’ that he was quitting over the extraordinary leak of Budget documents.
Mr Hughes’ resignation letter said he was taking responsibility for system failures that led to details being put online nearly two hours early.
But he had also incurred the wrath of ministers by revealing that Ms Reeves was told months ago that there was no black hole in the finances.
She continued to deliver blood-curdling warnings about the problems publicly, despite Labour’s own policy choices being responsible for most of her difficulties.
Mrs Badenoch kicked off hostilities this lunchtime by asking: ‘Does the Prime Minister believe that when an organisation descends into total shambles, the person at the top should resign?’
Sir Keir replied: ‘I was very proud to lead this party at the Budget last week where the Chancellor (Rachel Reeves) set out that we would protect the NHS, which we’ve done in the Budget, create the conditions for economic stability, not repeating the mistake of austerity, and bearing down on the cost of living by taking £150 off energy bills.
‘We’re fixing the mess that they left and I’m very proud to be doing so.’
Mrs Badenoch told the Commons: ‘He doesn’t want to answer a question about taking responsibility because he likes to blame everyone else except himself, and so does the Chancellor (Ms Reeves).
‘We now know that the head of the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) was forced out for telling the truth that the Chancellor did not need to raise taxes on working people. We also know that the Chancellor was briefing the media, twisting the facts, all so she could break her promises and raise taxes.
‘If she was a CEO, she would have been fired and she might even have been prosecuted for market abuse. That’s why we’ve written to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), so will the Prime Minister ensure the Chancellor fully co-operates with any investigation’
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