Jeremy Corbyn now has more experience of responding to Budgets than the Chancellor of the Exchequer who he stood opposite today. So did the Labour leader offer a good response to Philip Hammond’s statement today? The answer will depend on how you evaluate Budget responses. If you’re expecting the Leader of the Opposition to look like a Prime Minister in waiting, then you’re expecting too much. If you’re measuring him against his own record, which remains largely that of an obscure and unimpressive backbencher who was never promoted for very good reasons, then this was a passable Budget response.
It’s been a few years since we had a decent Budget response, to be fair. Ed Miliband struggled to make his mark – though the Tories were actually bothered enough by his presence to organise heckling of the Labour leader, while they only half-heartedly chuntered today.
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