The Chancellor’s challenge

First the good bit: the pronouncements of George Osborne’s early weeks at No. 11 helped to pacify investors who might otherwise have treated our government bonds to the same degrading treatment as those of Greece, Ireland, Spain and now Italy. As a result of a credible programme to reduce (albeit not eliminate) the deficit, confidence in UK government debt held firm and the Treasury is now able to borrow money at a shade above 2 per cent, rather than at the 7 per cent now being imposed on Italy. This is, today, the Treasury’s greatest single boast.

Unfortunately, however, Osborne has not kept up the momentum. Impending disaster averted, No. 11 ought to have begun churning out reforms to set the country on a path towards prosperity. The duty of a Conservative chancellor is not just to publish a five-year spending plan, but to identify and sweep away the many obstacles and disincentives now confronting those who would start companies and hire workers.