At some point, Rishi Sunak is going to need to pick a lane. There is only so long that the Chancellor can claim to believe that excessive borrowing is immoral while borrowing to such excess. His trick yesterday was to make all the right noises about restraint while unrolling a £500 million ‘plan for jobs’. Take away his earnest delivery and it’s still not clear whether he’s the boozer at the bar telling the world about the dangers of alcoholism, or the sensible friend ordering the taxi home.
Let’s be fair. Sunak has had to deal with exceptional circumstances in the last 18 months, and is taking steps to cease the unprecedented spending spurge. He’s shown resolve in unwinding the furlough scheme last week and ending the £20 Universal Credit uplift today. Another three months of furlough could have cost another £3 billion, another year of the UC uptick £6 billion.
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