Age of Astringency

Jeremy Hunt has little room for manoeuvre but a government which puts motorists before national security forfeits the benefit of the doubt.

As always, thank you for reading The Debatable Land. Newcomers can sign-up to receive future posts simply by pressing this button:

Jeremy Hunt delivers what may be be his last budget tomorrow. It does not seem likely that any measures he announces will have a material impact on the general election’s outcome. Nor, ipso facto, are they likely to gladden hearts across the realm. When you’ve been in power for 14 years, voters know a pre-election lollipop is too little, too late.

Unsurprisingly, much attention has been paid to the amount of “headroom” the Chancellor of the Exchequer has for Treasury jiggery-pokery and the space he has for pre-election cuts to income tax or national insurance. According to The Times, Hunt has plumped for the latter. Speaking from the self-interested perspective of a Scottish taxpayer whose rates of income tax are subject to the Scottish government’s tender mercies, this is more welcome than a cut to income tax. Expect it to be labelled a “Union tax cut”.

…