The prime minister has said he will “get to the bottom” of where damaging leaks about the Budget and against his Cabinet are coming from.Last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves told MPs that pre-Budget leaks suggesting she had abandoned plans to increase income tax rates were “unauthorised” and there was an inquiry under way.Sir Keir Starmer told the Liaison Committee, a parliamentary committee made up of every select committee chair, that he did not believe the leaks were coming from inside his own office.Questions from MPs to the PM also focused on standards in public life, including whether ministers were subjecting themselves to scrutiny by answering questions in Parliament.The government has faced a succession of embarrassing episodes in recent weeks, including briefings about a plot to take over the leadership by Health Secretary Wes Streeting at the start of November.That was quickly followed by stories in the media about a possible Budget U-turn on income tax and then the unprecedented premature publication of the Office for Budget for Responsibility (OBR) response to Reeves’ Budget before she had announced it in the Commons.Questioned on the leaks by the chair of the Liaison Committee Dame Meg Hillier, Sir Keir said they were “intolerable” and an investigation into the leaks around the Budget was under way.”I’ve no reason to think there was a leak from No 10,” Sir Keir added.Dame Meg asked if he would “go as far as removing an individual” if they were found to be responsible, and the prime minister said he had previously done so and would be willing to “take appropriate action” at the end of the investigation.”I’ll get to the bottom of these leaks,” he said. “They are, in any organisations – they’re intolerable. “I took the same action when I was head of the Crown Pro …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnThe prime minister has said he will “get to the bottom” of where damaging leaks about the Budget and against his Cabinet are coming from.Last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves told MPs that pre-Budget leaks suggesting she had abandoned plans to increase income tax rates were “unauthorised” and there was an inquiry under way.Sir Keir Starmer told the Liaison Committee, a parliamentary committee made up of every select committee chair, that he did not believe the leaks were coming from inside his own office.Questions from MPs to the PM also focused on standards in public life, including whether ministers were subjecting themselves to scrutiny by answering questions in Parliament.The government has faced a succession of embarrassing episodes in recent weeks, including briefings about a plot to take over the leadership by Health Secretary Wes Streeting at the start of November.That was quickly followed by stories in the media about a possible Budget U-turn on income tax and then the unprecedented premature publication of the Office for Budget for Responsibility (OBR) response to Reeves’ Budget before she had announced it in the Commons.Questioned on the leaks by the chair of the Liaison Committee Dame Meg Hillier, Sir Keir said they were “intolerable” and an investigation into the leaks around the Budget was under way.”I’ve no reason to think there was a leak from No 10,” Sir Keir added.Dame Meg asked if he would “go as far as removing an individual” if they were found to be responsible, and the prime minister said he had previously done so and would be willing to “take appropriate action” at the end of the investigation.”I’ll get to the bottom of these leaks,” he said. “They are, in any organisations – they’re intolerable. “I took the same action when I was head of the Crown Pro …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
