Budget gives A-D households £100 energy aid but lacks vision

New prime minister Andy Burnham has let us know what he is planning, and how he will get things moving.

There were rumours that his backbenchers were seeking a “do no damage” budget. I think he’s nailed it. There is no doubt, this budget does no damage. Or at least no serious damage. But it lacks direction. It lacks a vision. Its basically about helping, a bit, with the cost of gherkins. And other things, of course.

There are a whole heap of bits and pieces. Households on band A to band D will get a check for £100 to help with energy. There’s a bit of stuff around cost of living. There’s a bit about helping young people get a job. But it’s all a bit lacklustre.

The reality is that we are still living with the nightmare of Chancellor John Healey’s predecessor. Rachel Reeves inherited an economy that was growing, with inflation at 2 per cent. After she hit employers with the hike in the employment tax, we saw inflation double and a sharp rise in unemployment for those under the age of 25. Unemployment across all ages is up, whilst job vacancies are down. Economists have downgraded growth for the next few years, and in any event, growth is pitifully poor.

That said, markets were expecting more damage. Banks have been taxed more, but not as much as everyone expected. The same with casinos.

The bottom line is that this budget could have delivered so much more. We were hoping for a defence spending commitment. We got an ambition to get to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030, but no details how. The government could have cut welfare spending, but are increasing it by £57 billion, paying for it out debt and more tax on entrepreneurs. The outcome? The highest peacetime tax rate ever.

The experts expect unemployment to continue rising. Economic growth to halve. Taxes to go up. Living standards to fall. Borrowing to increase. Welfare costs to rise. Its not at all impressive.

• Mark Garnier is the Member of Parliament for Wyre Forest