UK Government Pre-Budget Leaks to Bookmaker

A business leader accused the Government today of leaking details of the Pre-Budget Report "like a sieve" as bookmakers stopped taking money on the most widely reported policy changes, according to a report in the Telegraph.

CBI president Martin Broughton suggested during a business group's annual conference that the UK was failing to keep the pre-Budget announcement under wraps.

"The Treasury appears to be leaking like a sieve," he said.

Such has been the extent of the briefings that Paddy Power has pulled odds on a cut in VAT and income tax, the Telegraph points out.  It was offering odds Sunday morning of 1-4 that the current 17.5 per cent rate of Value Added Tax will be reduced. The bookmaker was also offering odds of 4-5 on a cut in the standard rate of income tax.