Critics and commentators agree that George Osborne has done an impressive softening up job with promises of “no more tax rises and no more spending cuts”.
There was of course a strong chance of him being lynched if he had attempted such a move anyway, but leaving aside such obvious repercussions, his talk of a rise in income tax thresholds and heavy hints about postponing the 1p increase in fuel duty scheduled for April 1 ensured that he could at least leave the BBC’s studios in one piece - and might even get him to his seat in the Commons on Wednesday unscathed.
After that, it’s a question of MPs deciding whether the Chancellor can afford such uncharacteristic largesse because reality is catching up with the perception that taxation rises & public spending cuts to date have been too much, too soon.
In the meantime, Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander is telling the press that there is “nothing more fundamentally liberal than saying those who work but receive least reward should pay no tax.”
Pity the same fundamentals don't apply to housing benefit.
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