Nigel Farage Considers Scrapping the Office for Budget Responsibility if Reform UK Wins Next Election
Nigel Farage has stated that he is giving serious thought to abolishing the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) if Reform UK wins the next general election and he becomes prime minister. Farage argues that the OBR makes chancellors beholden to it and effectively dictates government policy, leading him to question its usefulness.
The OBR was established in 2010 by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition to provide independent five-year forecasts for the economy and public finances, with these forecasts published twice yearly. In recent years, there have been reported tensions between the OBR and the Treasury, including an incident where OBR forecasts were leaked prior to a chancellor's Commons statement, which contributed to the resignation of the OBR chairman Richard Hughes.
In response to Farage's proposal, the Labour Party has warned against fiscal recklessness. Treasury chief secretary James Murray also criticized the idea, describing scrapping the OBR as fiscally reckless and warning that it would result in a plan similar to former Prime Minister Liz Truss's economic approach, but on steroids. Farage declined to specify who would be responsible for economic forecasts if the OBR were removed.
