The Budget that was heralded as make-or-break for so long finally arrived, and what we got was “breathing space”, a phrase John Healey used dozens of times.

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In practice it meant VAT off electricity bills for a few more months, the gas standing charge scrapped, the cash ISA cut reversed, the trading allowance tripled and the banks asked for a few billion to pay for it. Small, easy to explain, and likely in a leaflet by Friday.

What the Chancellor did not do was take a single decision that will still be felt in five years’ time. He promised to be straight with the public about the finances, but on every hard choice the answer was to kick the can down the road.

The triple lock will be reformed, but not until 2030, by which point it will be somebody else’s problem. The welfare bill will apparently come down, although the Treasury could not say by how much or when. Income tax thresholds stay frozen until 2031, dragging more ordinary workers into the higher rate every year, and the £23.6 billion cushion against shocks inherited in March has been cut to around £15........

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