Moment Chancellor discovers Budget has been leaked as she checks phone moments before speech

The Chancellor's Budget announcement was plunged into chaos today after the Treasury watchdog accidentally published the details of her plans for the country.

Footage from the Commons just before she was set to deliver her key speech shows the Chancellor looking down at an aide's phone - just as the leaks emerged during a session of PMQs.

In a shambolic error, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) leaked its assessment of Ms Reeves's fiscal plans 30 minutes before she was due to unveil them in the House of Commons.

The documents, which were revealed just minutes after Ms Reeves brandished her red box outside 11 Downing Street, showed that tax is due to rise by £26 billion, with income tax thresholds frozen for another three years.

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The figures are not meant to be officially published until the Chancellor has formally announced her speech.

The OBR assessment read: "A set of personal tax changes which increase receipts by £14.9 billion in 2029-30, including: freezing personal tax and employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) thresholds for three years from 2028-29, which raises £8.0 billion."

The OBR has since apologised for the blunder and launched an investigation into the "technical error".

The watchdog said in a statement: "A link to our economic and fiscal outlook document went live on our website too early this morning. It has been removed.

“We apologise for this technical error and have initiated an investigation into how this happened.“We will be reporting to our oversight board, the Treasury, and the Commons Treasury Committee on how this happened, and we will make sure this does not happen again.

"Our economic and fiscal outlook and supporting documents will be released when the Chancellor has finished her speech."

Footage from the Commons appeared to show the moment Ms Reeves was made aware of the leak, when she was handed a phone by minister Torsten Bell.

Before starting her Budget speech, Ms Reeves said the early release of the OBR’s forecasts before she delivered her Budget was “deeply disappointing”.

She told the Commons: “It is my understanding that the Office for Budget Responsibility’s economic and financial outlook was released on their website before this statement.

"This is deeply disappointing and a serious error on their part. The Office for Budget Responsibility have already made a statement, taking full responsibility for their breach.”

Government borrowing costs jumped higher after the early release of the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts, with long-dated gilt yields under pressure.

Yields on 30-year UK government bonds, which are also known as gilts, jumped as much as seven basis points higher to 5.39%, and rose three basis points for 10-year bonds, at 4.53%.

The yield moves counter to the price of bonds, meaning that prices fall when yields rise.The pound also weakened in response, down 0.2% at 1.31 US dollars and 0.3% lower at 1.13 euros.

Sir Keir Starmer refused to say whether he would order an investigation into budget leaks, when pressed by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.

Ms Badenoch said run-up to the Budget has been the “most chaotic in living memory” and asked the Prime Minister for an explanation of the “complete shambles”.

Sir Keir said the leak was a matter for the OBR, adding: "We all know the biggest shambles in living history, the Liz Truss budget. What did (Mrs Badenoch) say? I don’t agree, this must be wrong? No, she said I think Liz Truss is 100% right.

"Not much room for flexibility, not one thing was wrong with it in her view, so we won’t be taking lectures from her."

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch compared Sir Keir Starmer’s Government to a “slow motion car crash”.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Mrs Badenoch said: “This just looks like a Government that is a slow motion car crash. His Cabinet are briefing against each other, his MPs are planning for life after him, and the most chaotic run-up to a Budget in recent memory is happening on his watch.

"Even the chief whip is telling MPs that he wants out. The truth is simple: his MPs don’t trust him, the markets don’t trust him, and the public certainly don’t trust him. When will he finally accept that the chaos starts and ends with him?”

Key Budget points leaked

Freeze in income tax thresholds: Rachel Reeves’ Budget will extend the existing freezes to personal tax thresholds for another three years until 2030-31, the Office for Budget Responsibility’s published forecast document shows.


Two child benefit cap scrapped: The two-child benefit cap is being removed at an estimated cost of £3 billion by 2029-30, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.


Salary sacrifice pension contributions taxed: National Insurance will be charged on salary-sacrificed pension contributions above an annual £2,000 threshold from April 2029, raising £4.7 billion, the Office for Budget Responsibility said.


Mansion tax: A high-value council tax surcharge on properties worth over £2 million is set to raise £0.4 billion in 2029-30, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.


Lower growth forecast long term: The Office for Budget Responsibility has increased its forecast for economic growth this year from 1% to 1.5% but downgraded its forecasts for the following four years.