Glory be to the Father and to the Son and

Labour, psychologically scarred by losing far more elections than they win, tend to try to hug the Conservatives close when it comes to tax and spending plans before elections where they think they can beat them, fearing anything else will spook swing voters and cost them the contest.And, pretty much, that is what Labour did back in the summer.

No such caution now.The books were worse than we thought is Labour’s mitigating plea, garnished with a we-won’t-do-it-again insistence from the chancellor“This is not the sort of Budget we would want to repeat,” Rachel Reeves told me.

For the chancellor, we now enter the valley of maximum scrutiny and jeopardy for her prospectus.Journalists, policy experts, industry, trade unions, you as readers have a chance to properly squirrel away at the detail and ask awkward questions.

You will see the chancellor on BBC television and hear her on the radio.

Senior figures insist they want to embrace this scrutiny.Looked at now you don’t have to be wildly uncharitable to conclude that was comprehensive baloney.

Labour, psychologically scarred by losing far more elections than they win, tend to try to hug the Conservatives close when it comes to tax and spending plans before elections where they think they can beat them, fearing anything else will spook swing voters and cost them the contest.And, pretty much, that is what Labour did back in the summer.

No such caution now.The books were worse than we thought is Labour’s mitigating plea, garnished with a we-won’t-do-it-again insistence from the chancellor