The good times look far away as spectre of tax rises looms
When the Prime Minister visited the West Midlands during last year's local election campaign, he repeatedly and resolutely stated there would be no tax rises for 'working people'.
Three months later he was back in the region, preparing the way for £40 billion worth of tax rises. At the time he said he was 'fixing the foundations of the economy' so there would be no return to austerity, and did not expect to be repeating those actions any time soon.
And only last month, Sir Keir Starmer said he was still committed to Labour’s manifesto promise not to raise income tax, employee national insurance or VAT.
But yesterday he repeatedly failed to rule out breaking this pledge, fuelling immediate speculation of another budget of pain.
There was scant sympathy last year, when he attempted to lay the blame for his decisions on the previous administration. This time around, goodwill is in much scarcer supply.
There will doubtless be growing calls from backbenchers, particularly those on the Left, to relax borrowing rules to allow for more spending and lower taxes. But as the Prime Minister rightly pointed out last year, it is that type of thinking which brought Liz Truss's ill-fated reign to a calamitous end.
Sir Keir probably thought that by making the tough decisions early in his government, he would be able to lay the ground for better times ahead of the next election.
But with every month that passes, the good times look further and further away.
