As Reeves speaks, MPs study OBR report on their phonespublished at 13:19 GMT
Joe Pike
Political & Investigations Correspondent, reporting from the Commons
Labour MPs gave Rachel Reeves a loud and sustained cheer as she stood up to deliver her Budget speech.
They are at their loudest when the chancellor blames the Conservatives for the state of the UK economy.
However weeks of policy leaks to the media – plus today’s extraordinary accidental early publication of the OBR forecasts – mean the usual element of surprise has completely disappeared.
From my seat in the Commons press gallery, I have spotted lots of MPs studying the OBR’s graphs and tables on their phones.
They are reading Reeves’s Budget plans long before she actually announces them.
It is a bizarre and slightly farcical situation, and has left some on the Labour benches looking a little subdued.
