George Osborne will appoint next OBR leader
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has today defended his decision to retain the right to appoint the head of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) with controversy still growing as to the real "independence" of the office. There have been accusations of figures being massaged to cast the UK government in a better light and while these accusations have been denied by George Osborne and David Cameron the announcement that Alan Budd will be stepping down has done nothing to dampen the controversy.
It will be interesting to see how the UK government tackles this issue and how quickly it is able to enshrine the OBR in law via Parliament. As we have mentioned in some of our earlier articles, there is also concern that no economist with a decent reputation would agree to take over as head of the OBR so long as rumours of political interference continue to swirl around. This office was supposed to be George Osborne's shadow to check and report upon the underlying UK economy and the potential impact that any government policy changes may have. There is no doubt that the government now has a very difficult job to regain the reputation which followed after the appointment of Alan Budd to the OBR.
Share this..
Related stories
Bush turns up the heat on Congress
Despite a blocking manoeuvre by his political enemies George Bush has turned up the heat in his battle to push through a $700 billion bailout package for US financial markets. The battle lines have already been drawn in the sand and this looks like going to the wire while markets fall away in fear of the deal being abandoned.
It has really come down to a battle of wills with Bush g...
Consumer confidence hit by June hike
Consumers' optimism has been hit by widespread expectations of a further rise in interest rates this month, Nationwide says.The bank's monthly consumer confidence index has dropped four points from its 18-month high in May, which reflected a wider buoyant mood on the high street for both retailers and shoppers alike.Its overall index fell back to 95, as did the expectations index which is down to...
Read MoreErnst & Young ITEM Club downbeat on UK
The influential Ernst & Young ITEN Club Report has cast doubt on the short to medium term prospects of growth in the UK economy. While this influential association freely admits that the UK is likely to have left the recession in the final quarter of 2009, it believes this trend will not continue because a number of tax innovations and incentives have been taken away from the marketplace. It speci...
Read MoreBudget Headlines : Companies able to defer tax bills for rest of the year
Companies able to defer tax bills for rest of the year...
Read MoreBudget 2015: the main changes
19/03/2015 Chancellor George Osborne announced his annual budget yesterday, which mainly targeted savers, workers and first time buyers. One of the changes Osborne announced was that the threshold in which workers start to pay tax will be increased from £10,500 to £10,800 next year and £11,000 the year after. He claimed this meant that the typical working taxpayer would be better off by �...
Read More