Back when it all began in 2010, the then Conservative chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, delivered what he described as "this unavoidable budget". A package of savage spending cuts and painful tax rises lay at its heart. The message was that the Tory-led coalition was riding to the rescue to put right the wrongs of 13 years of Labour government, and, after a short sharp shock of austerity, soon all would be a bed of economic roses.
More than 12 years on, last Thursday Jeremy Hunt was offering yet more painful medicine, and still little sign at all of rosier times ahead. In the short term taxes would have to rise again, this time by a massive £25bn ($30bn), Hunt said, while spending would need to be reined in by £30bn.
There were consequences for the wider Tory agenda. Badly needed domestic reforms promised by successive Conservative prime ministers, such as those to social care, would have to be delayed for the umpteenth time.
Funds for public services would be squeezed and plans to raise international aid shelved. There would be help for the poorest at home, with benefits and pensions being uprated in line with inflation, because without such a hike, at a time when prices were rising at terrifying rates, their plight would soon become intolerable.
Despite this litany of economic failure and national decline, Hunt, the fourth Tory chancellor of the exchequer in as many months, nonetheless managed in his peroration to declare that the Conservatives remained the party to be trusted most with the economy.
Opposition MPs gasped, and Tories cheered. But they could all see the glaring fault lines in the chancellor's arguments. They knew Hunt's task was twofold: to put the economy back on something resembling a sensible course after Liz Truss's reckless minibudget, while obscuring the obvious Tory culpability for its dreadful state in whatever way he could.
Denne historien er fra November 25, 2022-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra November 25, 2022-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Starlink's conquest of the Amazon leaves Brazil in a dilemma
The helicopter swooped into one of the most inaccessible corners of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian special forces commandos leaped from it into the caiman-inhabited waters below.
Dalai Lama's mountain town feels the strain of tourist boom
SUVs and saloon cars pass slowly along McLeod Ganj's narrow one-way Jogiwara Road, blaring horns at pedestrians and scooter riders and playing loud music.
'I am all the world' The brutal rule of a West Bank settler
Palestinians tell ofblacklisted Yakov's reign across the Jabal Salman valley and heisjust one of many violent bosses
Stormy waters New flashpoint emerges in South China Sea dispute
Hopes that tensions in the South China Sea might ease have been short lived.
'Justice delayed' Why trust in public inquiries to bring closure is fading
After the final report of the Grenfell fire inquiry was published, Hisam Choucair, who lost six family members in the blaze, said: \"We did not ask for this inquiry... It's delayed the justice my family deserves.\"
Celeriac soup with almond pangrattato
I'm not ashamed to say that as soon as September hits, my stick blender comes out. Just as I embrace salads when the clocks go forward in the UK, I wholeheartedly throw myself into soup season once the summer holidays end. Autumn is approaching in the northern hemisphere and I'm ready with my ladle. Celeriac is one of my favourite soup heroes, because it gives the creamiest, silkiest finish with little effort. You don't have to make the almond pangrattato, but it is a wonderful addition.
Are smoke signals telling me to make an oil change in the kitchen?
Should you that is, not can you) cook with extra-virgin olive oil? Antonio, Atlanta, Georgia, US
Going underground
A darkly humorous encounter between an American spy-cop and the members ofan eco-commune she is hired to infiltrate
All work and no play
Hard Graft, a powerfulnew London exhibition, focuses onworkers’ exploitation, from the ruined hands ofa washerwoman to mothers forced to sell their bodies
What the princess and the shaman tell us about hereditary privilege
It should have been an Instagram-perfect wedding image, but it turned out to be something more embarrassing.
