Labour aren’t going to restrain the Chancellor’s worst fiscal instincts. More than ever, the wonks, watchdogs and writers will have to step in.
In some ways, it’s too early to tell. But the question is worth probing because it matters.
Our usual summary of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s supplementary data.
This spending review brings the moment when the need to live within our means and the protection of sacred cows clash head-to-head.
He has succeeded in boosting recovery, but failed to eliminate the deficit. Now he must prove his determination to fix that roof – whether the sun is shining or not.
The Institute for Government’s new guide reminds us that the Conservative-Liberal Democrat partnership helped to improve Britain for the better.
He cannot wave away the possibility, even the likelihood, of recession returning before 2020.
I think a deal on development is actually possible. The two sides are not as far apart as they often seem.
Tory MPs would have forced changes to Osborne’s tax credit plan in any event. Are they really up for the tough decisions that deficit reduction requires?
Excessively loose monetary policy will eventually spark another financial crisis on a potentially more devastating scale.
The OBR can’t possibly forecast what the national debt will be in fifty years’ time. But it still says something that they’re trying.
The Labour leadership always said they would display their socialist beliefs proudly. Now Osborne is giving them the chance – and it’s proving messy.
The vulnerable are hurt most when states borrow too much and go bankrupt.
Bulging state cellars are not in the interests of taxpayers or art lovers.
The third and final piece in our series investigating whether the Chancellor has managed to rebalance the economy.