A Budget for “Strivers, Grafters and Carers”
Budgets, as we all know, take place on Wednesdays. After the excitement of Prime Minister’s Questions, the Deputy Speaker calls ‘the Chancellor of the Exchequer’ and he – so far we have not had a female Chancellor – bounds to his feet, delivering an upbeat message about the nation’s finances and pouring scorn on Her Majesty’s Opposition in equal measure.
Most people had been expecting this year’s Budget to be in November. The Budget has been brought forward to avoid being enmeshed in the latest rounds of Brexit negotiations. So why not Wednesday, October 31st?
The newspapers are convinced that Philip Hammond did not want to give their headline writers an open goal by presenting a Budget on Hallowe’en and so Monday it was.
