What Jeremy Hunt sets out later is going to be a stark contrast to the “new era” promised by Kwasi Kwarteng just eight weeks ago. Taxes will go up; spending will be cut.
The aim is to reassure the markets that he can balance the books and to start to bring down the high rate of inflation, which the chancellor will call “the enemy of stability”.
He is expected to blame rising prices for higher mortgage rates, “industrial unrest” and for cutting funding for public services.
Hunt is doing this with a recession looming and in the knowledge that there are concerns on his own backbenches – so he will also promise to be “compassionate” and “fair”.
Ministers have been preparing the ground for weeks; the chancellor is likely to have headed off some big potential flashpoints – albeit not cheaply – with the expected increases to pensions and benefits, and an expectation that the health budget will be protected.
A decision to defer some of the pain to later years – and so beyond the next election – is also likely to pose a challenge for Labour.
Source: BBC