Chancellor John Healey kicked off his first Budget by getting his excuses in first. The wars in the Gulf and Ukraine, he began, were creating global storms which could quickly confound the official forecasts and knock the UK economy for six.
In other words, if it all goes pear-shaped, don’t blame me. It will be because of events beyond the control of a mere British Chancellor.
Not that the official forecasts, from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), are that great anyway. Economic growth was nudged up for this year from 1.1 per cent (its March forecast) to 1.2 per cent. Such
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