Budget Leak Inquiry Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

Budget Leak Inquiry

Glyn Davies Excerpts
Thursday 22nd March 2012

(12 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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David Gauke Portrait Mr Gauke
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All Budget decisions were agreed by the Government as a whole, and the quad was heavily involved at all stages in that. People in a coalition will always make their arguments and set out their case, and some of that will be done in private, some of it in public, but it is a far more orderly process of Budget policy making than we have seen for many years.

Glyn Davies Portrait Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)
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In the context of coalition government, there will inevitably be much pre-Budget discussion and much greater media coverage. Does my hon. Friend agree that such coverage is bound sometimes to be right, and that it is ridiculous to interpret it as leaks?

David Gauke Portrait Mr Gauke
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I refer my hon. Friend to, for example, the 50p debate, which the hon. Member for Nottingham East (Chris Leslie) mentioned. In the days before the Budget there were five different versions of what was going to happen. One turned out to be correct and four turned out to be incorrect.