Overview of the chancellor’s 2022 Spring Statement

The chancellor really shouldn’t make major economic statements on a Wednesday. It plays havoc with our publishing schedule because we go to press on a Tuesday morning so we cannot cover it in the issue which drops through readers’ letter boxes on a Thursday. But at least this gives us a few days to think more closely about what last week’s Spring Statement actually means and to take account of what the political and economic reactions have been.

The general view seems to be that the chancellor did not come out of the post-statement interviews well. He must have known that he would be questioned about the cost-of-living increases and their effect on the poorest in society but he did seem ill at ease in dealing with some of the people who spoke to him. I will not comment on the politics of this but it does emphasise the...