Who foots the bill for Rishi’s big giveaway?

FOR most British families, preparing a budget means carefully calculating their expenditure to ensure that it doesn’t exceed their income. In the Treasury, it seems to mean devising ever more ways to spend, spend, spend.

The past week has seen such a blizzard of pre-Budget announcements it has been difficult to keep track. However, they all have one thing in common; splashing out liberal amounts of taxpayers’ cash.

The Mail has counted 16 separate spending pledges amounting to a total giveaway of some £32billion – not to mention increases in the minimum wage and public sector pay.

Each individual cause – from cutting NHS backlogs to regenerating urban ‘brownfield’ sites – is undoubtedly worthy.

But with national debt at £2.2trillion and annual borrowing running at around £200billion, how can such a massive spree be prudent?

Of course, Rishi Sunak has a delicate tightrope to walk. He needs to stimulate and revivify the economy, while at the same time taking steps to repair Britain’s Covidravaged public finances.

But if the leaks are accurate, this looks more a Labour budget than a Tory one – tax, spend and if the sums don’t add up, just keep borrowing to plug the fiscal gap.

Living on endless tick is not the Tory way and it always ends in tears. The party has a proud reputation for being frugal with public money.

It is also meant to be the party of low taxation and of business, though employers bracing themselves for massive increases in Corporation Tax and national insurance may beg to differ.

This paper understands that Mr Sunak wants to balance the books in the fairest possible way. But engaging in an arms race with Labour over who can tax and spend the most is the road to financial and electoral ruin.