Thread by @NewStatesman

The Chancellor’s obsession with political gameplaying was at odds with a changed public mood, writes @AndrewMarr9. #SpringStatement2022

newstatesman.com/politics/uk-po…

Neither the House of Commons dramatics, nor the political theatre of a promised tax cut, saved Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement from being savaged by right, left and centre.

First, says @AndrewMarr9, if you are going to pull a rabbit from a hat, make sure it’s a real, live and twitching rabbit, and not the airy promise of a possible bunny in two years’ time.

People are getting pretty desperate about money. They need real help right now, not an election-focused snap of the fingers some time ahead.

People can see what’s coming on fuel bills and on food bills (in this global crisis we don’t talk enough yet about the rising cost of food, but we will). And they do the numbers.

Observers on the right and left were, frankly, looking for something bigger.

The current public mood demanded proper protection for businesses as well as individuals, as energy prices spike.

In short, it was the moment for a grand rethink and reset.

"If the Treasury had been more open about its thinking, engaged with economists across the spectrum, perhaps some of this week’s mistakes would not have been made."

Magic Circle-like conjury and Treasury theatrics benefit nobody, not even, it seems today, the Chancellor of the Exchequer himself, writes @AndrewMarr9. newstatesman.com/politics/uk-po…