Nigel Farage weighs scrapping UK budget watchdog if Reform takes power
Nigel Farage has said he is giving serious consideration to abolishing the Office for Budget Responsibility if Reform UK wins the next general election and he becomes prime minister, signalling one of the most radical overhauls of Britain’s fiscal framework in more than a decade.
The Reform UK leader told The Telegraph that the independent budget watchdog exerts too much influence over economic policy, leaving chancellors “beholden” to its forecasts rather than exercising their own judgement. In his view, the body has become an unelected force shaping decisions that should rest with politicians chosen by voters.
“I have questioned the need for it,” Farage said. “The question we have to ask ourselves is whether the OBR is serving any useful purpose. We have to discuss whether we would be better off without it. I am giving that very serious thought.”
Nigel Farage
Farage described the watchdog as a “Blairite style quango”, arguing that power across public life has drifted away from elected governments and towards judges and arm’s length bodies. “In too many areas,” he said, “the government the people choose is not the one making the real decisions.”
The Office for Budget Responsibility was created in 2010 by the Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition to take economic and fiscal forecasting out of the hands of ministers. It is legally required to publish five year forecasts for the economy and public finances twice a year, alongside the Budget and the Spring Statement, incorporating the impact of tax and spending decisions.
While the OBR was designed to bolster credibility and transparency, it has faced growing criticism from across the political spectrum. Detractors argue that its medium term forecasts have become too influential, encouraging governments to shape policy around meeting targets five years ahead rather than tackling immediate challenges.
The watchdog has also been under scrutiny following a series of controversies. Last year, its forecasts appeared on its website before the chancellor delivered her Budget statement, prompting the resignation of its chairman, Richard Hughes. Senior officials later said they had raised concerns with the Treasury about leaks that were fuelling “misconceptions” about the state of the public finances.
Farage said the focus on five year projections “distorts policy”, adding: “Given the economic decline we are in, we need a government of radicalism. It is difficult to imagine the OBR being capable of radicalism in any way at all.”
He declined to say who would take responsibility for producing economic forecasts if the watchdog were scrapped. Before the OBR’s creation, the Treasury itself carried out the task, a system criticised for allowing governments to skew assumptions to their own advantage. Farage suggested that markets ultimately provided the real verdict, saying: “The ultimate forecaster is called the bond market.”
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The comments drew a sharp response from Treasury minister James Murray, who warned against abandoning independent scrutiny. He accused Farage of flirting with “fiscal recklessness” and claimed the Reform leader would “hammer the British economy with a Liz Truss plan on steroids”.
Many economists point to the turmoil following Liz Truss’s 2022 mini budget, which was delivered without prior analysis from the OBR, as evidence of the risks involved. The resulting market reaction led to higher borrowing costs and ultimately to Truss’s resignation.
Supporters of the OBR argue that its presence reassures investors and disciplines governments tempted to make unfunded promises. Critics, however, say its forecasts have effectively become policy constraints rather than neutral analysis.
Farage’s remarks come as Reform UK continues to poll strongly, prompting renewed scrutiny of its economic plans. The party leader has already scaled back earlier promises of sweeping tax cuts, abandoning a £90bn package pledged in the 2024 election campaign on the grounds that the economic climate no longer allows it.
Whether Reform will formally commit to scrapping the OBR is expected to be decided ahead of the next general election, due by 2029. Any such pledge would raise fundamental questions about how Britain manages its public finances, and how financial markets would respond to the removal of a body that has become central to economic policymaking over the past 15 years.
