The risks for Osborne now he’s back on top

[audioplayer src=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_20_March_2014_v4.mp3″ title=”Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman discuss the 2014 budget” startat=749]The old Budget traditions are dying off. No Chancellor has observed Budget purdah, the tradition of not speaking about the economy for two months beforehand, since Norman Lamont. These days, the Chancellor even appears on the BBC on the Sunday before the Budget to begin the drum roll of announcements. The convention by which he exercises his prerogative to have an alcoholic drink as he delivers the speech has also fallen into abeyance. Ken Clarke, with his glass of whisky, was the last chancellor to have a tipple as he spoke.

But some customs remain. The Chancellor still appears in Downing Street with his red Budget box and they all try to produce a rabbit, a surprise to grab the headlines and wrongfoot their opponents. Osborne’s rabbit was aimed at those most likely to vote, the old. He introduced pension bonds, removed the need to buy an annuity and abolished the 10p tax rate on savings. Savers have borne the brunt of quantitative easing and low interest rates, and these changes should cheer those whose electoral support is crucial for the Tories.

Osborne’s overall aim, though, was to show that the job is not yet done. He wants voters to know there is still a long way to go to create a ‘resilient economy’: one that can weather the financial squalls threatening to become a feature of 21st-century capitalism. As part of this, there were measures to check the increase in public spending, to promote exports and help manufacturing.

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What the Budget told us was more about the resilience of the coalition and the Chancellor than the economy itself. The Budget showed that, when it wants to, the coalition can still operate as a functioning government.