by Peter Watt
This time in two weeks we will all be chewing over the chancellor’s budget. If the mood music is to be believed then we will not be reviewing a dramatic budget replete with economic flourish. Rather it will basically be a restatement of the deficit reduction plan outlined in the coalition agreement.
There will in all likelihood be the addition of a few targeted tax breaks, some nod to infrastructure spending and some extension of the state backed business bank. But basically no real change in approach. However Osborne is no fool, so we can safely say that he will have something up his sleeve that will be the measure that he hopes will define his budget.
Presumably he and his team will do a better job of politically sense checking his budget this year than last! Team Osborne is under pressure from their own side as MPs can see the possibility of winning the next election slowly becoming less likely.
But Labour will also be under pressure. Whilst Labour’s economic numbers are improving they are still blamed by much of the electorate for causing the economic woes facing Osborne and the country. And that is why the tone of their response will really matter.
Generally speaking, if you are held responsible for causing a problem it is not a good idea to appear really pleased that someone who is trying to sort out your mess is struggling! It certainly won’t convince anyone that you didn’t actually cause the problem in the first place. It is unlikely to make you look clever; in fact it will probably simply reinforce the idea that the whole thing was your fault anyway, and that you had failed to learn the lessons and were in fact in denial.
