Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Responsible Rishi’s Budget balancing act

The Chancellor needs to keep the big spender in No. 10 happy

(HM Treasury)

Rishi Sunak has released photos of his Budget prep, as he prepares to stand up in the House of Commons tomorrow to deliver not just the government’s latest fiscal decisions, but the results of its three-year spending review. (Photos include a shot of his pre-Budget Twix and Sprite snack, which Sunak revealed to Katy Balls on Times Radio over the weekend).

As I say in the Telegraph today, this Budget is a difficult balancing act for the Chancellor. On the one hand, he has some big-spenders to please, not least the Prime Minister, who is adamant that the Conservative party’s days of austerity have come to an end. On the other, Sunak remains committed to ushering in a new phase of fiscal responsibility, which does away with the idea that emergency spending can continue forever.

Heading into the Budget tomorrow, the public finances are in a much better state than previously predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

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