Star Comment: Time for Government to stop spinning, and get on with sorting out the mess

Having abandoned the initial plan of a straightforward increase in the basic rate of income tax, the Chancellor has instead opted for a more piecemeal approach of imposing a mind-boggling array of comparatively small tax increases on everything from pension contributions through to online gambling. There are two ways of looking at this: It could be viewed as death by a thousand cuts, meaning that everybody feels worse off; or being more charitable, it could be said that she is spreading the pain around evenly, so that nobody is unfairly burdened.

Whichever way you look at it, though, the tax rises are brutal. After last year's 'once and for all' tax rises of £37 billion, the Chancellor has now gone back and hit us all with another £26 billion. The freezing of tax allowances for three years will mean an extra 780,000 low earners will now have to pay income tax, and an extra 980,000 middle earners will now find themselves paying the higher rate of income tax. That will stick in the craw for many working people struggling to provide for their families at a time when she has chosen to remove the two-child cap on people claiming benefits.

The Chancellor presumably shied away from a simple, unambiguous rise in the basic rate because she had promised not to in the 2024 manifesto. However, given that her promise not to raise taxes for 'working people' now lies in tatters, it is hard to imagine this would have made much difference. 

In fairness to the Chancellor, many of the problems she faces are not of her making. The war in Ukraine has wrought havoc with the finances, and the bill for the Covid years - furlough, lockdown and all - has landed firmly on the mat of No. 11. Her best hope is, that as these shocks to the economic system begin to fade, that the economy will recover and she will find more room to manoeuvre as the election approaches. 

The problem is, of course, that you don't stimulate a struggling economy by piling on extra taxes. 

Neither have the Government's hamfisted attempts to manipulate the news agenda done much to boost business confidence either. 

After weeks of testing out policies through tactical leaks and nudge-nudge media interviews, it just about summed up the events of the past few weeks when the Office of Budget Responsibility accidentally leaked part of the Budget before the Chancellor had even started speaking. It was a similar story last year, when most of the Budget had already been leaked in advance. All this has achieved is to fuel uncertainty, the last thing you need to be doing when you need to encourage investment. 

Couple that with the Prime Minister's own bungled attempt to stave of a perceived leadership coup just a few weeks ago, and the message to this government should be loud and clear: Stop spinning, because you're not very good at it.

The public has had enough of pitch-rolling and kite flying. It is time to start governing.