Speaker Criticises Chancellor for Releasing Budget Details to Media Before MPs

The speaker of the House of Commons has reprimanded Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves for releasing details of the Budget to the media before disclosing them to MPs. Sir Lindsay Hoyle said Reeves had acted with “supreme discourtesy” by failing to inform the House of Commons of the government’s plans to change fiscal rules, citing the Ministerial Code which says major policy announcements must first be made to MPs. During a series of interviews while attending an International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in Washington last week, Reeves had confirmed that she would make a change to the way she would measure debt. This could allow the government to spend billions more on long-term infrastructure without exceeding debt targets....