Chancellor John Healey took an every little helps approach to today’s budget as part of a strategy to ease the everyday pressures facing households and businesses. “This is a budget for the working people of Britain and for British businesses, big and small,” he said, opening the biggest moment of his political career. 

The UK has been spending more than it can generate in taxes for the past two decades. The markets are acutely aware of the long-running deficit and a £3 trillion debt pile that is almost double GDP. It leaves very little wiggle room for this Labour chancellor to introduce meaningful measures.