The chancellor is flying back to deal with the crisis. Not the economic crisis but his career crisis. No. 10 waited until he was out of the country to stab him in the back and prepare a U-turn.
The biggest U-turn in British political history is therefore being designed to save the PM; not the poor, the bond markets or the economy, just the PM. The chancellor is a dead man walking.
And yet still the libertarian right is screaming about holding the line, waiting for trickle down to work, lying about the Laffer curve.
Yesterday one of their number claimed that the markets could be settled and budget balanced by reducing government fraud to zero, abolishing all quango’s and abandoning HS2.
Nothing is likely to freak out investors more than realising this is really what a serious person is thinking. Not least because better transport links are good for growth.
The government is deep in panic and chaos, but they still don’t get it. It isn’t just this budget, 12 years of Tory cuts, squeezing wages and benefits and they still think people can just turn down the central heating and work harder.
They have no idea and they don’t care, as the chancellor said in the mini budget “We will make work pay by cutting benefits”.
It is there in black and white, this is not a cock up, it is the plan.
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.