Osborne: Who Leaked Budget Headlines?

George Osborne has admitted the Treasury was behind some of the leaks of his Budget plans but he has hinted the Liberal Democrats might be to blame for other unauthorised briefings.

He said his department "did engage with the press" in advance on two stories regarding North Sea oil and high-quality British television.

But he insisted no Treasury minister, official or special adviser leaked information about income tax, personal tax allowances or stamp duty.

He said it was hard to keep his plans secret as he had to tell the independent Office for Budget Responsibility in advance and also negotiate with coalition partners the Liberal Democrats .

Mr Osborne was quizzed by the Treasury Committee , a cross-party panel of MPs, about the Budget statement he delivered on March 21.

Chair Andrew Tyrie, a Conservative MP, told the Chancellor important announcements must be made to Parliament first.

Budget information is also viewed as particularly sensitive as it can have an impact on the financial markets and the UK economy. Traditionally the Treasury goes into "purdah" for weeks to avoid details escaping early.

He suggested Mr Osborne might be "stretching" the ministerial code by authorising leaks to news organisations before telling MPs.

However, the Chancellor said briefing journalists on the "future direction of policy" was not the same as bypassing Parliament.

Regarding a story about North Sea oil, Mr Osborne confirmed he authorised the Treasury press office to speak to reporters from The Herald newspaper .

Mr Tyrie - whose committee examines Treasury, Bank of England and HM Revenue and Customs issues - shot back: "Well they didn't tell me."

An article on March 17 revealed the Treasury's intention to announce a long-term guarantee that tax relief on decommissioning older oil fields will not be scrapped.

Details of tax breaks for homegrown television productions such as Downton Abbey also emerged in the newspapers.

But the Chancellor was adamant information about his plans to scrap the 50p top rate of income tax, increase the stamp duty on properties worth more than £2m and raise the personal tax allowance were not revealed in advance by the Treasury.

Mr Osborne said the reality of governing by coalition and the creation of the OBR meant he had to complete his Budget "10 days before delivering it not 10 hours," and more people got to see it.

Challenged over whether he was accusing the Lib Dems of being behind unauthorised leaks about his Budget, he said: "I'm genuinely not pointing the finger at any individual... I genuinely don't know where these stories come from."

But pressed over whether he was suggesting the OBR was responsible, he replied: "No."

Other MPs on the committee grilled Mr Osborne over whether he has a strategy for creating economic growth, if enough was being done to tackle youth unemployment and why the cost of petrol has increased so quickly.