Dame Meg Hillier urges Treasury probe into possible Budget leak
Chair of the Treasury Committee Dame Meg Hillier has called for an investigation after a news report predicting a Budget tax change appeared before the Chancellor addressed Parliament.
Dame Meg Hillier has called on the Treasury to investigate a possible leak of Budget details after a news report predicting a tax change appeared before the Chancellor had addressed Parliament. The chair of the Treasury Committee has asked for answers on how the information reached the press ahead of its official announcement.
The report, which Hillier said had moved markets, anticipated a change to taxation that had not yet been formally set out to MPs. Budget measures are normally kept confidential until the Chancellor makes the statement in the Commons, so premature publication of their substance raises concerns about how sensitive fiscal information is handled inside government. Hillier argued that the timing of the report warranted scrutiny of whether confidential material had been disclosed.
Market movements tied to pre-announcement speculation are a particular concern for the Treasury. Early knowledge of tax changes can give some investors an advantage over others, and officials have a duty to protect the integrity of the Budget process. Any sign that privileged information circulated outside the department would be treated seriously, and the call for an inquiry reflects that expectation.
Hillier's intervention places the matter before the Treasury's own leadership and the parliamentary oversight structures through which the committee she chairs scrutinises the department's work. Her call has drawn attention to a recurring tension in Budget procedure: the Chancellor's statement to the House is the point at which tax decisions are formally made public, and any earlier disclosure undermines that sequence.
The source material does not indicate whether the Treasury has opened an inquiry, what the outcome of any such inquiry would be, or how the report's author obtained the information. It does not confirm the origin of the material or identify any individual responsible, and it does not record a response from the Treasury itself. Until such answers are provided, the question of how the report came to be published remains open, and the timing of its appearance ahead of the Chancellor's statement is the central point in dispute.
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