Simon Wren-Lewis calls for an extension of the remit of the Office for Budget Responsibility, (OBR), the fiscal watchdog set up by Coalition Chancellor George Osborne, echoing Giles Wilkes. The idea is to include in their services the option to scrutinise contending political parties' fiscal plans, and in particular, to check that strategies for the overall deficit are consistent with individual policy proposals. In this way the OBR would resemble the