Rishi Sunak’s whole Budget rested on the hope that people have short memories.
The Chancellor wanted you to forget that the Tories had been in power for more than ten years during which they had cut public services, closed libraries and sure start centres and frozen people’s wages.
Only that way could he duck all the responsibility for the damage caused by years of austerity and claim all the credit for trying to put things right.
This was the equivalent of taking £100 out of someone’s bank account and then expecting them to be grateful you have returned £60.
Having shut 1,000 sure start centres, Sunak sought gratitude for funding 75 new family hubs and having cut £6billion from the universal credit, he wanted applause for providing £2billion in support.
Boris Johnson pulled off a similar trick at the last general election when he shamelessly promised more police officers and nurses without once acknowledging they would only replace the numbers lost because of his party’s cutbacks.
Sunak has also adopted the Prime Minister’s habit of adding a superlative to every announcement.
During the course of his speech we were promised Britain would be a scientific “superpower” with “world-class” public services.
While you could not fault the confidence of his delivery, there is less confidence he can deliver on these grand promises.
The pledge to help households cope with the cost of living could soon come back to haunt him when taxes rise in April and families start to feel the pinch through rising inflation and higher energy bills.
Sunak spoke of a “world-class” education system yet he is spending more money on cutting fuel and alcohol duty than on helping children catch up with lost learning as a result of Covid.
If this Budget unravels it will be because of the gap between the optimism of the Chancellor and the reality of people’s lives.
