At the start of the pandemic, I noted the surging popularity of Rishi Sunak to a former economic adviser to David Cameron. They sagely replied that it was easy to be a popular chancellor when you are giving away money but far harder when you are clawing it back, as the Prime Minister is discovering.
Next week the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, announces a raft of painful measures targeted at sustaining calm in the markets by showing how they will plug the £50 billion hole in our finances and tackle inflation. It’s a delicate path to tread as Sunak needs to simultaneously avoid deepening the recession. Going too far with spending cuts and tax rises will choke consumer confidence.
