Speeches by Murray.

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point to some of Professor Miles’s comments yesterday. There has been a lot of discussion in this place about the £4.2 billion headroom identified in the forecast by the OBR on 31 October and what, in our view, that implied about the fiscal situation. Professor Miles said that the …”

“The Chancellor set out at the Budget how important it is to increase our headroom. We have increased it to £21.7 billion, which is critical to reducing the cost of borrowing and protecting us against future shocks. The Chancellor also announced that the OBR’s spring forecast will not include an assessment of the Govern…”

“I want to be clear about what the OBR is required to do and what the Chancellor announced last week in the Budget. The OBR is required to produce two forecasts a year, and the Chancellor will commission a second forecast in due course. As she announced in the Budget, however, that forecast will not include an assessmen…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right that people across Britain are still living with the consequences of what the previous Government did in that mini-Budget, when they sidelined the OBR. In fact, one of the reasons we are so keen to protect and strengthen the OBR’s integrity is the vital role it plays in our fiscal fra…”

“I came here this morning expecting to be critiqued by the Opposition for their view of Government policy; I did not expect a critique of my knowledge of history, but that appears to be the route that the right hon. Gentleman wants to take. When I gave way to the right hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) yes…”

“I will admit that I was surprised to read the OBR’s report, which made it clear that any assumptions we might have had that this was a simple error were not true—more systemic issues were revealed in the report. As I understand it, there was functionality within the OBR’s IT and website systems to have greater security…”

“As will be clear, I agree with the right hon. Gentleman’s remarks about Richard Hughes’s contribution to public service. However, I disagree that the premature publication of the forecast last Wednesday was a narrow matter. The report showed that it was about not simply a single error, but more systemic issues, which i…”

“As I have made clear, the Treasury will be focused in the coming months on ensuring that we have stronger information security in the spring forecast and all future forecasts. It is worth my adding that the OBR has in recent years had significantly increased funding: since 2021-22, its budget has increased by 45%. As a…”

“I will not speculate on the outcome of the leak inquiry, but it is under way now, with the Chancellor’s support. The Government take our obligations to this House very seriously, and last week we produced a Budget that delivers on our priorities for the British people.”

“I thank the shadow Chancellor for his questions. As I made clear in my opening remarks, the decision for Richard Hughes to resign was a matter for Mr Hughes himself. I referred in my earlier remarks to the media reporting of the letter that the OBR published. The publication of that letter was agreed to by the Chancell…”

“Last week, the “Economic and fiscal outlook” was accessed prematurely ahead of the Budget. The Office for Budget Responsibility took full responsibility for this and conducted a review into what had happened. That report was published on Monday, and I came to this House to make a statement. The report found “systemic i…”

“The OBR’s report into the premature publication of its forecast found no evidence of hostile cyber-activity, but it looked at the spring forecast and identified what happened there. Concerningly, it identified that there had also been premature access to the forecast at that fiscal event. The report did not look furthe…”

“I very much agree with the sentiment of my hon. Friend’s question. The OBR is a vital part of our fiscal framework—indeed, as I mentioned earlier, one of the first acts we took on entering government was to strengthen its role to ensure that it could never be sidelined. It is precisely because we see the OBR as holding…”

“The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to point out the importance of trust, and not just in the economy but in the public finances. In the Government’s view, the OBR’s role is a critical part of that trust. It is because of that role that the OBR plays in our robust and transparent fiscal framework that we take the pr…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question—I am glad that, not having had time to take his intervention yesterday, we are now back to business as usual with frequent exchanges across the Chamber. We probably disagree about the OBR’s role, but I hope he recognises the benefit of one of the changes to what the OBR will …”

“The Chancellor has delivered a Budget that takes the challenges of this country head on, cuts the cost of living, continues to cut NHS waiting lists, cuts Government borrowing, and meets the priorities of the British people.”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to that. While the process around the Budget is important, what this Budget means for people across Britain is that we have cut the cost of living, continue to cut NHS waiting lists, and cut Government borrowing.”

“As the hon. Lady will know, the process is now under way for an external recruitment of a new chair of the OBR. The normal process will be followed in terms of the Chancellor making the appointment and the Treasury Committee being involved. The hon. Lady mentions that I have confirmed the leak inquiry today; I have con…”

“I thank my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care for opening the debate. Of course, today’s debate follows yesterday’s publication of the OBR’s report into the early release of the “Economic and fiscal outlook” and the subsequent resignation of Richard Hughes. Let me be clear that what hap…”

“The right hon. Gentleman may not have been here, but a colleague of his asked me that same question before. Unfortunately, I did not know the history of that story; I shall have to look it up on Wikipedia tonight to find out. [Laughter.] Clearly, it was before my time. Our focus on spending public money wisely means we…”