An image of the front page was been posted on to Twitter while the Chancellor was giving his speech. It revealed details of the Budget, including a 1p cut in the price of a pint, and the scrapping of a planned 3p hike in petrol duty.
The paper’s political editor, Joe Murphy, apologised on Twitter for the mistake.
He said: “I wish to apologise for a very serious mistake by the @EveningStandard earlier which resulted in our front page being tweeted.
“We are so sorry to the House of Commons, to the Speaker and to the Chancellor for what happened. We shall be apologising to them.”
In a statement, Evening Standard editor Sarah Sands said: “An investigation is immediately underway into how this front page was made public and the individual who Tweeted the page has been suspended while this takes place.
“We have immediately reviewed our procedures. We are devastated that an embargo was breached and offer our heartfelt apologies.”
The last time a budget was leaked, in 1947, it cost the Chancellor – Hugh Dalton – his job.
The front page can be viewed here.
