What the Budget tells us about Boris Johnson’s Tories

The most remarkable element of that Budget was a Tory Chancellor standing at the despatch box saying that people had voted to change the ‘economic geography’ of the country and that was what this government was going to try and deliver. It was a sign of how different this government is from its Tory predecessors. Towards the end of the speech, Rishi Sunak boasted about a ‘changed mindset’ in government when it comes to capital spending that would see more projects built outside London and the south. It was another reminder of how this government sees itself as a new regime, not simply the Tories’ fourth term in office.

There were two parts to this Budget. The first dealt with coronavirus and took a very, bipartisan tone — declaring the issue to be above party politics. The £30 billion stimulus package showed how worried the government is about the coming economic disruption.