Speaker of the House, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, has taken Labour Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to task for giving major policy changes to the news channels before revealing them in the House of Commongs.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle Said:
Before the next business, I have a short statement to make. In media interviews last week, the chancellor announced that she intended to introduce changes to the fiscal rules, relating to the funding of day to day spending through tax receipts and to the measurement of the public debt. These are major new policy announcements with significant and wide ranging implication for the government's fiscal policy and for the public finances. It is evident to me this should therefore have been made in the first instance in this House and not to the world's media. This principle is clearly set out in paragraph 9.1 of the ministerial code.
While this can hardly be described as a leak, the chancellor's self gave interviews on the record and on camera, the premature disclosure of the contents of the budget have always been regarded as supreme discourtesy to the House. Indeed, I still regard it as such. I am very, very disappointed that the chancellor expects the House to wait nearly a full week to hear a repeat of these announcements in the budget statement on Wednesday. I've always defended and undoubted the right of this House, including the opposition parties, backbenchers in all parts of the House, to be the 1st to hear major government policy announcements. Ministers should expect to face proper sustained scrutiny when these announcements are made for the elected members of this House and not for the American news channels.
I can assure the government that it's still my firm view and that I will use the powers I have to make sure the House is able to hold ministers to account. I'm glad there is a statement later on fiscal rules, perhaps no coincidence. Honourable members may be wondering how they will get a seat on Wednesday. Well I'll be quite honest, the way it's going, you won't need to.
We'll have all heard first. It's not acceptable. I don't want it to continue, and I want to treat this house with the respect it deserves. I'm not by this side or that side. It is totally unacceptable to go around the world telling everybody rather than these members.
They were elected by the constituents of this country, and they deserve to be treated better. Whatever. And isn't it funny? When it was the previous party, it was the opposite side that was complaining to me. Get your acts together, all sides.
