On one thing, politicians, economists and commentators on the left and right can agree: Britain is broken. Not as in the silly, smirking slogan used by David Cameron in opposition, but in the most basic sense. This winter, sick people have died in the hours that it took for ambulances to arrive. This week’s cold snap has again forced many families across the UK to debate whether to heat their homes or feed themselves. On Wednesday, as Jeremy Hunt delivers his budget in parliament, teachers in England and Wales, junior doctors, civil servants, university staff and tube drivers will all be on strike.
The newish chancellor is not even pretending next week’s measures will fix these problems. Perhaps such candour is to his credit. What is shaming is that he doesn’t even try. Getting to the root causes of big issues and turfing out dogma has never been Mr Hunt’s style. To take one example: the Treasury will almost certainly keep down fuel bills by maintaining the energy price guarantee. A U-turn on the policy announced in the autumn by No 11, ministers will hail this as compassionate conservatism – the state mitigating the pain of ordinary people. Yet bills will still be twice what they were in 2021, and the government will once again hand over taxpayer money to energy suppliers in a privatised market that has comprehensively failed.
