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Budget Leak Sparks Chaos Before Reeves's Announcement

12/1/2025

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Summary

Story summary

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published its Economic and Fiscal Outlook 40 minutes before Rachel Reeves's Budget announcement on December 1, 2025.
Journalists, including BBC reporters, accessed the document by guessing its URL.
The leak prompted a frantic scramble to report details ahead of Reeves's remarks.
The incident exposed lapses in protocol governing the confidentiality of Budget details.

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Story summary

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published its Economic and Fiscal Outlook 40 minutes before Rachel Reeves's Budget announcement on December 1, 2025.
Journalists, including BBC reporters, accessed the document by guessing its URL.
The leak prompted a frantic scramble to report details ahead of Reeves's remarks.
The incident exposed lapses in protocol governing the confidentiality of Budget details.