Head of Budget leak watchdog refuses to quit over 'technical error' blunder

The chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility was forced to apologise over a calamitous leak of vital Budget documents

The head of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s future hangs in the balance in the wake of the Budget leak scandal.

Chair Richard Hughes dodged questions over whether he should resign for the worst Budget breach since 1996. But he committed to abide the wishes of the Treasury and a committee of MPs.

Mr Hughes blamed a “technical error” for a “mistake” within the OBR had seen its vital assessment of the government’s tax and spending plans uploaded to its website too early.

He told a press conference: “The document was unintentionally uploaded to our website too early. We have initiated an investigation into how and why it has happened.

"That investigation will