\n<\/p>\n
Two quotes from the chancellor and the prime minister get to the heart of this Budget.<\/b><\/p>\n
“The money New Labour had in the 90s is simply not there now\u2026 Britain has it harder now,” Chancellor John Healey said last month.<\/p>\n
And from Andy Burnham, days before he became prime minister: “This change… is the most significant change moment in our politics for 40 years.”<\/p>\n
So what happens when the economic realities confront the political ambitions of this new government?<\/p>\n
As Helen Miller, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), puts it, external<\/span><\/a>: “We have a relatively new government with seemingly big ambitions but facing a long list of constraints.<\/p>\n “Some of those constraints\u2026 are self imposed, others are being worsened by global events, most noticeably war in the Middle East.”<\/p>\n Let’s be clear, plenty in Westminster in all parties will say that the amount of money around isn’t everything \u2013 how well taxpayers’ money is spent and where it is spent matters too. <\/p>\n And spending less and taxing less, plenty argue, should be a priority.<\/p>\n But in the bones of many in the Labour Party is an instinct that the government, the state, can and should be a vital agent in driving change and improvements in people’s lives \u2013 a world-view grounded in a sense that governments should proudly step in, rather than one that believes they should get out of the way.<\/p>\n And how do you deliver a proudly proactive state, delivering for people in a noticeable way, when the tax burden is generationally high, the national debt is sky high, energy bills are rising<\/a> and inflation is higher than expected? <\/p>\n In short: it is not easy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n