Osborne 'only needs one Budget a year'

George Osborne should stop making major tax and spending announcements in the Autumn Statement, the Treasury Select Committee will argue in a new report today. "The Autumn Statement is not, nor should it be, a second Budget. In recent years it has come to read like one", argues committee chairman Andrew Tyrie. "The case for two Budgets is weak. An additional one can create uncertainty and carries an economic cost. Only in an emergency would it be likely to carry long-term benefit."

The TSC also argues that the announcement of the transfer of quantitative easing revenues from the Bank of England to the Treasury "was poorly coordinated" and raised doubts about the independence of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee.

"The Treasury and to some extent the Bank of England were at fault," Mr Tyrie will say. "It is vital the MPC fulfils its duty to demonstrate its independence. The way the transfer was announced could have had the opposite effect. The Treasury and the Bank must both ensure there is no repetition."