Britain | Briefcase encounter

The British budget mixes sensible tinkering and fiscal fantasy

Both the Tories and Labour are making promises they cannot keep

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves to deliver Budget on March 6th 2024. London, United Kingdom.
Photograph: Kirsty O'Connor/HM Treasury

An election-year budget is meant to provide the incumbent party with a springboard to the campaign. Jeremy Hunt, Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, who laid out his budget on March 6th, needed a circus trampoline.

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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Briefcase encounter”

From the March 9th 2024 edition

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