This was made law by George Osborne last October when the Commons approved his Fiscal Charter. He clearly felt rather smug about it at the time, thinking it wrong-footed Labour for good:
As I said at the time, George Osborne had no chance of delivering these surpluses.
The new Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has now acknowledged that to be true.
So when does he go back to the Commons and repeal this stupid law?
Alternatively, when does he admit that the OBR was always a branch of the Treasury when issuing estimates that fitted Osborne's wishes?
He has to do one of those two things.
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It’s obvious to me.
Don’t worry about explaining the OBR – just repeal the stupid law – say at about midnight tonight or any other day for that matter?
Hammond is in the position of having to restore an elderly second hand car that in recent years has had a number of bodged repairs and refits with the wrong spares. It might just all fall apart.
I’m guessing that this repeal will be one of those things that’s get done quickly and quietly (if possible) on a busy news day when some major foreign catastrophe or some other big issues are dominating the news.
From there on in it becomes a case of not mentioning ‘the charter’ talking about other things and forgetting that it ever existed (if possible).