Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether third-party commentors, campaigners, including Martin Lewis, or pressure groups, outside of Government and Parliamentarians, were given pre-briefing to the Budget 2026 before the Chancellor’s statement to Parliament.

All our communications are done in line with the MacPherson principles. The announcement on standing charges was made publicly via a press release at 06:48 on 28 October 2026. It was announced separately from Budget in the usual way – via a press release

Martin Lewis was not given advance briefing on any of the Budget announcements made by the Chancellor in the House.