George Osborne’s right-hand man gives his Budget verdict: ‘think we can rule out a snap election’

Oh dear. Although today’s Budget was expected to be rather boring, it’s shaping up to be a lot more interesting than Philip Hammond had intended. The Chancellor’s decision to break a 2015 Tory manifesto pledge and raise National Insurance Contributions (Class 4) by two per cent for self-employed workers has left many in uproar.

But surely Hammond can rely on former Treasury staff to have his back at this testing time? Perhaps not. Rupert Harrison, George Osborne’s former chief of staff in the Treasury, has offered his snap verdict:

While Harrison — who now works alongside Osborne at BlackRock — says the dividend changes are likely to encounter opposition in Tory heartlands. What’s more, Harrison appears to have compared Hammond’s Budget to Osborne’s ‘omnishambles’ Budget — offering advice on how to deal with a backlash:

He has at least attempted to backtrack slightly — later adding that unpopular measures were not ‘necessarily a bad thing’ before calling the Budget ‘brave’.