Liz Truss’s plans to ‘fly blind’ with her emergency budget next month have come under pressure after an independent watchdog said it could provide an economic forecast in time.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) confirmed it has already begun work and would be in a position to publish its results in time.
Ms Truss came under fire from senior members of her own party when it emerged she could bypass the OBR, which was set up by her former mentor George Osborne.
She was accused of trying to “fly blind” when she sets out key plans for the economy just weeks after entering No 10.
In a letter to MPs on the Commons Treasury Select Committee, the OBR confirms it will be able to produce a forecast by mid-September.
The confirmation potentially puts the a new Government in the position of having to formally reject the offer.
Mel Stride, the Tory MP who chairs the committee, said: “These forecasts provide transparency on the health of the nation’s finances to Parliament, the public and critically, to international markets, upon which the UK substantially relies for its borrowing. It is therefore reassuring to hear that the OBR has already started this important work and stands ready to provide a forecast in time for an emergency fiscal event next month.
“Given the very significantly increased economic challenges since the OBR’s last forecast in March and the likely significant measures to be brought forward in September by whoever becomes our next Prime Minister, it will be vital that the OBR is requested by whoever is Chancellor in the new Government to publish as full a forecast as possible at that time.”
Reports last weekend suggested Ms Truss had downgraded her plans for an emergency budget to a more minor ‘fiscal event’, which would bring in the tax cuts she has pledged in her campaign to become Conservative leader, but which would not require a full OBR forecast.
But critics warned that with inflation soaring – and expected to climb even higher – her government could risk basing its plans on out of date information.
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Pat McFadden said Ms Truss had been playing fantasy economics and it was time for her “to get a reality check”.
“There’s no excuse for our next Conservative prime minister to try and wriggle out of proper scrutiny before announcing any cost of living measures this September,” he added.
Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake, another member of the Treasury Committee and a supporter of Ms Truss’s rival Rishi Sunak, told the PA news agency it would be “wrong” for her to reject the forecast.
The MP for Thirsk and Malton said: “I think it’d be wrong to do that (not ask for an OBR forecast). Because surely, nobody in the world of politics should be afraid of scrutiny.”
