Friday 10th March

That’s it.  Forgotten instantly and I bet in even a few days no-one else will be able to remember it either.  More of the same, no real change.  No money for the NHS while waiting lists get longer and longer (and people suffer).  A pittance for Social Care, but not all at once – this 2 billion is over 3 years – and let us not forget that the reason we are in this state is a direct result of Austerity.  At least Phillip Hammond didn’t try to pull any magic rabbits out of the hat like his predecessor; everything was well trailed and leaked to the press for a few days.

And yet we need to do something.  We cannot simply carry on cutting Corporation Tax and Benefits and expecting that somehow Growth will close the huge gap that is the deficit.  We are still borrowing 60 billion a year and the National Debt is increasing to 90% of our GDP.  The Tories have signally failed to eliminate the Deficit – all that suffering for nothing, or very little.  And yet when the solution is perfectly clear it is almost impossible for any political party to even hint at it.

Taxes must go up.  Income tax is at a historic low, especially for the rich.  At some point, things will absolutely reach a breaking point.  It may be a rise in interest rates which forces the Government to stop borrowing or it may be Hospitals closing or some other crisis.  At some point Labour will sort itself out and offer a credible alternative.  At some point the Brexit negotiations will expose the lunacy at the heart of this administration, maybe factories will close and business itself wake from the torpor it has settled into and demand a change.

But meanwhile the ship of state sails gloriously on, oblivious to winds from the East and Icebergs on the Starboard bow.  We will make Britain great again…but it may take a few decades longer with budgets like the one we have just forgotten.