Head of UK fiscal watchdog says he will resign if Reeves, lawmakers demand it

LONDON (Reuters) -The head of Britain's fiscal watchdog said on Thursday he would resign if finance minister Rachel Reeves and lawmakers demand it after his agency published details of the government's budget early, moving markets and sparking anger in Parliament.

Reeves, speaking earlier, described the incident on Wednesday as a serious breach by the Office for Budget Responsibility but she told Sky News that she had confidence in OBR Chair Richard Hughes.

The early release of the OBR's economic and fiscal outlook, first reported by Reuters, meant the budget's key announcements on taxes, growth and individual policy changes became public an hour before Reeves stood up to deliver her budget to Parliament.

"Personally, I serve day to day, subject to the confidence of the chancellor and the Treasury Committee," Hughes said at an event hosted by the Resolution Foundation think tank, referring to Reeves and an influential panel of lawmakers in Parliament.

"If they both conclude from the investigation they no longer have confidence in me, then of course, I will resign, which is what you do when you're the chair of something called the Office for Budget Responsibility."

HUGHES SAYS HE WAS 'MORTIFIED' BY WHAT HAPPENED

Earlier, Hughes apologised and said he was "personally mortified" by what had happened and an investigation into the incident was now underway.

"It will be overseen by the chair of our oversight board and include expert input from Professor Ciaran Martin, former head of the National Cyber Security Centre," he told BBC Radio.

"It will...identify the actions we need to take to make sure it will never happen again."

The OBR said on Wednesday that a link to its November 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook had gone live on its website early.

The document, which is usually published after the finance minister's speech has ended, was uploaded to the OBR website and available to download on an unprotected link. The link was not advertised on the website.

In a letter to Reeves that the OBR published on Thursday, Hughes said the OBR had inadvertently made it possible to access its report.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, Muvija M, Catarina Demony and Sarah Young Editing by Kate Holton and Ed Osmond)