What with pre- and post-election Budgets and autumn statements, it feels like the chancellor makes a big announcement to the Commons several times a year now. Today was the turn of the 'emergency' Budget, although quite what the emergency was no-one is really sure.
To be fair, it lived up to the melodrama of its name. It was a blockbuster event, with Osborne making big announcements on the living wage, defence spending and tax credits. We take a look at that living wage announcement and find it to be wanting in some very significant respects. You'd certainly do well to check the fine print on that one. We also take a broader look at the political circumstances in which the chancellor delivered the Budget. It was Miliband's meek £8 an hour offer at the general election which gave Osborne the political space he's now enjoying- which is ironic, because it was fear of the Tories and their press supporters which led him to adopt such timid proposals in the first place.
Elsewhere we look at public subsidies for the arms industry and ask precisely what they do to boost the economy or our security. We also assess the Telegraph's adoption of the spousal visa campaign. Could this be a sign of a winnable, Gurkha-style moment on immigration? It's possible. | |
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