Can John Healey make a dent in the cost of living crisis in his first budget?
Source: The Guardian ·
Much of the Burnham project depends on how the budget is received, as promise of ‘breathing space’ is a two-way streetYou be the chancellor: play our budget game to see if you can balance the booksEvery Sunday night, the chancellor, John Healey, slips next door to Andy Burnham’s Downing Street flat where they order a curry and chew over politics on the prime minister’s sofa.A takeaway Indian is…
From the source
Every Sunday night, the chancellor, John Healey, slips next door to Andy Burnham’s Downing Street flat where they order a curry and chew over politics on the prime minister’s sofa. A takeaway Indian is one of the totemic issues in British politics, a “treat” fewer people can afford, like a pint at the football or soft play for the kids. Healey has promised to give Britain’s battered consumers “breathing space” in next week’s budget, but three months after taking on the job, the new chancellor also hopes to buy himself time. Key decisions will be postponed until a spending review at some point next year – including when the UK will spend 3% of gross domestic product on defence: the issue that prompted Healey’s resignation as defence secretary in June, hastening Keir Starmer’s departure. The weekly curry summit is a chance, as some aides see it, to separate Healey from cautious Treasury officials, and get him to kick around the politics. With just a few days to go before the budget,…