Sir Lindsay Hoyle blasts 'discourteous' Rishi Sunak for releasing parts of his Budget ahead of time and without telling Parliament first as MPs accuse ministers of 'treating parliamentary democracy with utter contempt' Treasury has made a series of policy announcements ahead of Budget tomorrow Lindsay Hoyle, Commons Speaker, said announcements should be to MPs first Sir Lindsay has accused the Government of treating Parliament 'discourteously' By Jack Maidment, Deputy Political Editor For Mailonline Published: 17:21 BST, 26 October 2021 | Updated: 17:21 BST, 26 October 2021 20 Viewcomments Sir Lindsay Hoyle today stepped up his war of words with the Government as he blasted Rishi Sunak for making pre-Budget policy announcements. The Chancellor will deliver his Budget tomorrow but the Treasury has set out numerous policies ahead of the financial statement. That approach has prompted repeated rebukes from Sir Lindsay who is adamant all policy announcements should be made to MPs first. Sir Lindsay criticised ministers over the approach yesterday and did the same again this afternoon after more details were pre-briefed. The Commons Speaker accused Mr Sunak and the Treasury of treating Parliament in a 'discourteous manner' as he vowed to do everything in his power to ensure ministers answer MPs' questions. Meanwhile, MPs on both sides of the chamber expressed their anger at the Government's communications strategy, accusing ministers of 'treating parliamentary democracy with utter contempt'. Sir Lindsay Hoyle today stepped up his war of words with the Government as he blasted Rishi Sunak for making pre-Budget policy announcements. The Chancellor will deliver his Budget tomorrow but the Treasury has set out numerous policies ahead of the financial statement Sir Lindsay granted a second urgent question in two days to force Treasury ministers to appear in the Commons to answer questions on the forthcoming fiscal event. He said the ministerial code states important announcements of Government policy should be made to Parliament first when it is in session. Sir Lindsay told the Commons: 'I was disappointed to see more stories in the media today with apparently very well-briefed information about what will be in tomorrow's Budget.' He accused the Government of treating the Commons in a 'discourteous manner', adding: 'This House will not be taken for granted, it's not right for everybody to be briefed, it's not more important to go on the news in the morning, it's more important to come here.' Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke defended the Government as he argued part of the objective in 'trailing specific aspects of the Budget in advance is to help communicate to the public what we're doing with their hard-earned money'. Responding to a pre-Budget urgent question from Labour, he said: 'The ability of Parliament to scrutinise the Government, including the Budget, is clearly crucial which is why we've got five days of parliamentary debate ahead of us this week and next and why the the Chancellor will be appearing in addition in front of two select committees of this House next week.' He said the 'bulk of the detail of the Budget' will be set out by Mr Sunak in the Commons tomorrow. He added: 'Part of the Government's objective in trailing specific aspects of the Budget in advance is to help communicate to the public what we're doing with their hard-earned money because we believe there is merit in clear and accurate information.' Mr Clarke faced criticism from both Labour and Tory MPs. Conservative Julian Lewis asked the minister: 'Why is it important, right or necessary to share Budget information with the media before it is shared with this House where it can be subjected to proper scrutiny? And will he give an undertaking on behalf of the Treasury team to stop doing it?' Labour's Angela Eagle added: 'This is treating parliamentary democracy with utter contempt, and the minister should be completely ashamed of himself, he should have come to this House and apologised, his boss should have come to this House and apologised.' Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility