The last time George Osborne appeared before the Treasury Committee he had to face questions on his disastrous Budget. So given the low bar, you could be forgiven for thinking that today’s session on EU spending would have been a walk in the park in comparison.
However, the Chancellor was put through his paces by the committee — chaired by Andrew Tyrie — as several pro-Brexit MPs, including Jacob Rees Mogg and Steve Baker, took the opportunity to air their grievances with the Remain campaign. It was Osborne’s doomsday Treasury Brexit report — which claimed that British households would be left £4,300 worse off — that gave him the biggest headache.
The most interesting line to come from the session was Osborne’s admission that the Treasury is planning for Brexit. For the first time, the Chancellor admitted that the Treasury and Bank of England are doing a ‘significant amount’ of work on contingency planning in the event of Brexit.
‘The Bank of England and Treasury are doing quite a serious amount of contingency planning for the impact on financial stability in the immediate aftermath of a vote to leave. I don’t think it’s appropriate to go into too much detail of that.’
Osborne’s comments come after Downing Street claimed on Monday that it was not doing contingency planning for Brexit. If the Remain camp wish to stay on message, it would be wise for the Treasury and Downing Street to make sure they do not contradict each other again as the campaign progresses.
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