Budget Responsibility Bill: Committee: Amendment 9

What happened: On 4 September 2024, the House of Commons voted on Amendment 9 to the Budget Responsibility Bill at Committee stage. The amendment, tabled by the Conservatives, was defeated by 366 votes to 109. The government successfully defended its approach to the legislation, with the large majority reflecting Labour's commanding position in the Commons following the July 2024 general election.

Why it matters: The Budget Responsibility Bill introduces new rules governing how significant fiscal announcements must be scrutinised by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the independent body that assesses the government's finances. The amendment sought to alter those arrangements, with Conservatives arguing for changes to the fiscal oversight framework. Its defeat means the government's version of the bill advances unchanged, strengthening formal requirements for independent economic scrutiny of major spending and tax decisions.

The politics: The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 102 voting Conservatives backed the amendment, joined by all four Reform UK MPs and both voting Democratic Unionist Party members, giving the opposition 109 ayes. Labour and its Co-operative partners provided the overwhelming bulk of the 366 noes, with only one Labour MP breaking ranks to vote with the Conservatives. The Scottish National Party did not vote. The bill sits in a broader context of the government positioning itself against what it characterised as the fiscal irresponsibility of the previous administration, and subsequent votes on the Finance Bill and budget resolutions in late 2024 continued that same dividing line.