Truss accused of circumventing budget review

Sir Keir Starmer joined senior Tories to criticizing Tory leadership Front-runner Liz Truss has reported she will bypass an independent spending watchdog when she unveils her emergency budget.

A senior Tory MP has warned that the next prime minister “ would be flying blind” if she dismissed the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) next month.

Set up by Ms Truss' former mentor George Osborne, the OBR produces two forecasts of the UK economy each year, timed to coincide with the Autumn Budget and Statement.

Mr Keir, who said there should have been an emergency budget "months ago", said: "The OBR is there to make sure the money is spent wisely and correctly. So, of course, you need the OBR in place for that.

"That's why there's been such a reaction to Liz Truss' proposal that she'll just put that aside."

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Mel Stride, chairman of the Commons Treasury Committee and Rishi supporter Sunak, told LBC, "It's kind of like flying blind.

"It means you do all this dramatic stuff about taxes and so on, but you don't know really what the impact on public finances will be, according to the independent forecaster. And I think the situation would be quite serious if that happened."

Asked whether the OBR's review was bureaucratic in times of crisis, Mr Stride said: "No. We ask for transparency and assurance that whoever wins this contest comes for...