With optimism over economy slowly growing, chancellor delivers nakedly political performance devoted to wrong-footing Labour
Chancellors delivering a pre-election budget have a choice of going for bribery, fastidious responsibility or a calculated set of political measures that restrict the freedom of manoeuvre of the opposition.
Famously in 1970 Labour’s Roy Jenkins was surrounded by cabinet colleagues such as Robert Mellish begging him, “Don’t do a Stafford Cripps on us Roy”.
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