Tucked away in a corner of the Ministry of Justice, a small team of analysts wields extraordinary influence over the UK’s economic policy. This is the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), and a debate is now brewing over whether this “unelected institution” has become too powerful.
The OBR’s chunky, chart-filled budget assessments have become a cornerstone of fiscal policy. But critics from across the political spectrum argue it has overstepped its role.
Former Labour minister Lou Haigh claims it “dictat[es] the limits of government ambition,” while the Trades Union Congress calls the “unaccountable OBR” a “straitjacket on growth.”
The central question is whether the OBR, chaired by former Treasury mandarin Richard Hughes, has become the tail wagging the Treasury dog.
With some suggesting Hughes is now as important as the Chancellor himself, the scrutiny raises a pointed question for its original architects: has the watchdog Labour created now become too powerful for its own good?
