Rishi Sunak suffers pre-Budget ticking off over pre-briefing

October 27, 2021 Ava

Rishi Sunak suffered a pre-Budget telling off from the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons for releasing details of his financial statement ahead of time.

A fuming Eleanor Laing told the Chancellor that ‘important policy announcements should be made first to Parliament’.

She also jibed that ‘we are all very much looking forward to hearing the remainder of your announcements’.

Mr Sunak insisted that he had ‘listened very carefully’ to the criticism as he stressed he has the ‘greatest respect’ for Ms Laing and the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

Sir Lindsay has repeatedly criticised the Treasury for setting out numerous policies in the media in the days leading up to today’s fiscal event.

Ms Laing delivered a statement to the Commons just before Mr Sunak stood up to deliver his Budget this afternoon.

Load Error

She said: ‘Before I call the Chancellor of the Exchequer to make his Budget statement, it is my duty to take the unusual step of saying a few words.

‘As chairman of ways and means… I have responsibility for the House’s proceedings on the Budget.

‘I share the concern of many members of this House about the apparent pre-briefing of Budget material to the media before any announcements have been made in this House.

‘I understand the Chancellor’s position and it is well understood that for a number of years elements of the Budget have been pre-briefed to the media in an embargoed basis to aid their coverage of it.

‘But such pre-briefing where the embargo makes clear that the material can be used only after the Chancellor has addressed this House is rather different to what we have apparently experienced this year.

‘That is the briefing to the media of details of the Budget statement to be published before the statement is delivered.

‘As Mr Speaker has said, and all ministers know, important policy announcements should be made first to Parliament.’

Ms Laing said it is her ‘firm hope’ that ‘we do not find ourselves in this position again’ at future Budgets.

She added: ‘But Chancellor, we are all very much looking forward to hearing the remainder of your announcements which you are about to make to us.’

Mr Sunak replied: ‘I have heard your words and those of Mr Speaker. I have the greatest respect for you both and I want to assure you that I have listened very carefully to what you have said.’

Sir Lindsay yesterday accused Mr Sunak and the Treasury of treating Parliament in a ‘discourteous manner’ as he vowed to do everything in his power to ensure ministers answer MPs’ questions.

MPs on both sides of the chamber expressed their anger at the Government’s communications strategy, accusing ministers of ‘treating parliamentary democracy with utter contempt’.

It is the latest stand-off between the Commons Speaker and ministers. In June Boris Johnson agreed to make major Covid decisions to Parliament as well as to the nation on television after he was given a blunt telling off.

Source: Thanks msn.com