“Everything’s fine”, the chancellor grinned deliriously on Tuesday, as the world burst into flames, posing a grave threat not just to British national security but to our already extremely fragile economy.
It all seemed like a sick joke. Even if we weren’t on the brink of world war three, the claim that Rachel Reeves made about restoring economic stability would have rung hollow to all of Britain bar those lucky few in the public sector who have benefited from greater job security, mammoth pay rises and ever more sick leave.
The whoops and cheers of her MPs behind her will have been an insult to the constituents who have faced so much hardship as a result of this calamitous Government.
No doubt they’re just delighted to have received a five per cent, inflation-busting pay rise which protects them from the inflationary pressures their own policies have been responsible for.
But given the backdrop of international events, the whole event wasn’t just insulting, it was embarrassing. It was a spring statement of fairytales.
The Chancellor spoke of higher economic growth coming in the next two years; she spoke of falling inflation; she spoke of unemployment peaking.
All of it is based on an Office for Budget Responsibility forecast, which isn’t worth the paper it was written on, given what’s going on in the Middle East.
A brave, bold, responsible chancellor could have shown leadership at this moment. She could have scrapped her pre-prepared statement and laid out the measures the government would take to respond to the crisis.
She could have made the 5p cut to fuel duty permanent. At present, fuel duty is set to increase by 5p per litre over the next year, despite the war in Iran, meaning oil and gas prices are set to surge, hitting motorists at the pump.
The Spring Statement was a horror show dressed up as a fairytale. A shafting by stealth - William Yarwood
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To choose to add to these costs is madness, yet that is what the chancellor is doing. She could have announced an immediate suspension of Britain’s quest for net zero, scrapped windfall taxes on energy, and lifted restrictions on drilling for new oil and gas.
She could have announced increases to defence spending. To pay for this would have only required modest action on welfare, which is set to rise to over £400billion by the end of the parliament.
She did none of this. Instead, she stared into the eyes of Britain’s mechanics, hairdressers, plumbers, farmers, entrepreneurs, investors, businessmen, hospitality workers and the rest and told them that everything was just dandy.
Most let down will be those who are unemployed. Unemployment has risen every month since Labour came to office. Yet despite the impending economic downturn, the chancellor has shown a callous disregard for their hopes to get back into work.
The truth is, she’s terrified of her radicalised backbenchers, who behave more and more like children who are refusing to grow up and accept the solemn responsibility of being legislators and being the governing party. They far prefer the soundbites and magical thinking of the Greens.
The Spring Statement demonstrated what a bleak moment the country and the economy are in. We have a prime minister who, at the weekend, was paralysed over the question of international law at the very moment that missiles were being aimed directly at British nationals.
We now have a chancellor unable to tell the truth either to the public or to her MPs about what needs to be done to turn the economy around.
The result will be more misery for taxpayers. In the documents released following the Spring Statement, it was revealed that the tax burden is heading for a record high.
Yet when interviewed about the Spring Statement, the chief secretary to the Treasury, James Murray, chose to drive his head ever deeper into the sand as he refused time and time again to say that the Government would cut welfare spending.
So remember, whether it's ideology, incompetence or a bit of both, the failure of our rotten politicians means you will pay ever more in tax, to pay for ever more people on benefits.