Hunt’s Budget sparks mixed reaction among Tory MPs

Having completed his speech to the House, Jeremy Hunt spent the afternoon doing the usual post-Budget rituals. Alongside a round of interviews, the Chancellor gave his traditional speech to the 1922 committee of Tory MPs. Normally, these appearances are accompanied by a round of cheers, applause and desk-banging of near-Pyongyang levels. Today the desk-banging lasted a mere three seconds in what some took to be a sign of the lack of enthusiasm which his Budget inspired. Turnout was low too: estimates put the attendance among MPs as between two to three dozen. ‘I never understand why we do these things a few hours after we’ve just heard the full speech’ remarked one Tory.

Hunt, a seasoned minister, performed well with the questions. David Duguid, MP for Banff and Buchan, raised concerns about the extension of the windfall tax on North Sea Oil. Shailesh Vara, the former North Ireland Secretary, asked whether the National Insurance cut was too much of a blunt instrument. One MP compared the Chancellor favourably to a bank manager, whom the average voter would trust with the nation’s finances. ‘There wasn’t much to object to’ said another. This perhaps sums up the reaction of the median Tory MP to Hunt’s speech: there may be little to cheer about but equally few could disagree with measures like the child benefit changes. The risk for the Chancellor is if Conservative colleagues voice discontent publicly, as both Julian Knight and David Davis have chosen to do so in the chamber tonight.

Labour are keen to depict the Budget as a flop. In the words of one frontbencher, ‘the bunnies are all dead: it’s basically Watership Down.’ But after the mini-Budget shambles of 18 months ago, ‘boring is back’ in Michael Gove’s phrase. Few bunnies perhaps, but at least there’s no bombs either.