The British budget mixes sensible tinkering and fiscal fantasy

An election-year budget is meant to provide the incumbent party with a springboard to the campaign. Jeremy Hunt, Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, who on March 6th, needed a circus trampoline.The governing Conservatives by 20 points in the polls. Voters reckon Labour is the better party at managing the economy (see chart). According to Ipsos, has a personal approval rating of -54, the worst recorded for a prime minister (including the benighted Liz Truss) since Sir John Major in 1994. Mr Hunt trails Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, by 15 points.