Rupert Harrison - How did we end up with Tory MPs cheering an increase in benefits?

THE day after a Budget most of the focus is usually on the small print. Who are the winners and losers?

Are the forecasts realistic? But sometimes the real significance doesn’t become clear for months or even years. This is one of those budgets because it contained hugely important signals about the Chancellor’s — and the Government’s — priorities for the future.

To start with, gifted a windfall from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility thanks to much better economic and borrowing forecasts, Rishi Sunak didn’t choose to undo the tax rises he had already announced to pay for the pandemic, the NHS and social care reform. Instead, he decided to add even more to spending on public services like education, the justice system and transport. The result is that spending on public services is set to grow more than 3% a year over and above inflation over the next three years, whilst government investment in new infrastructure will be at the highest sustained levels for decades. The age of austerity is truly over.