Javid accused of suppressing bad forecasts

THE Chancellor has been accused of suppressing independent economic forecasts which were due out alongside next month’s now-cancelled Budget.

Sajid Javid has called off the Nov 6 Budget because of plans for a general election – meaning he is not obliged to release new predictions from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on growth, state borrowing and tax take.

The OBR had already started work on a fiscal and economic outlook to be published alongside the Chancellor’s spending plans. Economists expected this to show a major deterioration in the public finances which could harm the Tories’ reputation for managing Britain’s books.

Opposition MPS are now calling for the outlook to be released so voters have a clearer sense of the Government’s record.

Labour MP Wes Streeting said the Treasury select committee should call OBR officials to give evidence.

Mr Streeting, who is a member of the committee, said: “Given the turbulence in our politics and economy, it is only right that the OBR now publish that forecast in full so we can scrutinise it. There is no reason we should not look at their forecasts.”

Lord Macpherson, the Treasury’s most senior civil servant until 2016, said on Twitter: “I wonder if the cancellation of the Budget has anything to do with the emerging OBR forecast.”

Economists also called for the predictions to be revealed.

Torsten Bell, of the Resolution Foundation, said: “The Government could, and should, allow the OBR to publish the forecasts they’ve already prepared.”