What happened to the Tory promise to balance the budget?

There is one big reason why a summer general election is unlikely, however tempted the Prime Minister might be to try to take advantage of the first migrant flight to Rwanda. Read between the lines and it is clear that Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt want to hold another ‘fiscal event’ before going to the polls. Nibbling away at a few more taxes, they appear to believe, will give them the best chance of clinging to power, or at least limiting the electoral damage to the Conservatives.

They must be hoping that few people will notice the public borrowing figures. This morning it was revealed that last month the government was forced to borrow £11.9 billion, substantially ahead of forecasts and taking the public borrowing for the full year 2023-24 to £120.7 billion – £6 billion ahead of what the Office for Budgetary Responsibility forecast ahead of last month’s Budget.