The fiddler’s charter

THIS ought to have been the speech of his life: the first full budget of Britain’s first majority-Conservative government in nearly 20 years, without even the threat of a credible Labour opposition to hold him back. Previous chancellors of the exchequer have used such moments to redraw the fiscal contours of the country in bold new colours. Yet when George Osborne rose to set out his vision on March 16th, some of its contents seemed rather weedy: lower tolls on a bridge to Wales, an air-ambulance for Northern Ireland, repairs to the A66 trunk road from Workington to Scotch Corner.