The first of the Tories’ financial reforms

The first of the Tory financial reforms is announced in the News of the World today. There is to be an Office of Budget Responsibility to ensure government doesn’t break certain spending or borrowing limits, as part of a new “Debt Responsibility Mechanism”. As George Osborne says: “We will call time on Gordon Brown’s age of financial irresponsibility and put in place an independent system that will allow a referee, if you like, to show a yellow card to a Chancellor and Prime Minister if they are stepping out of line.”

This sounds to me like the political equivalent of storing biscuits in a cupboard very high up in the kitchen because you can’t trust yourself not to eat them. If Cameron doesn’t want to borrow above a certain amount, can’t he just pledge not to in his manifesto? I suppose it’s encouraging that Cameron doesn’t trust government to spend wisely, even if the Tories are in charge.