Independent government economic forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), should prepare itself for a busy time in the run-up to the next election. Shadow chancellor Ed Balls used his Labour party conference speech to argue the watchdog should be given powers to audit the opposition's next manifesto commitments as a means of restoring trust in politics. As currently constituted under the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011, the OBR is unable to add up tax and spending pledges made by other parties - although its chair, economist Robert Chote, spoke about how 'interesting' it would be to examine alternative policies.
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