Labour's response to the budget shows the party's irrelevence

Budgets are generally there to do two jobs: to define the priorities of the government and set traps for the opposition. This Budget delivered on both — for now. That it was delivered during a crisis that is likely to have a significant and damaging impact on our economy wasn’t lost, but didn’t feel like the big story. For now, the response has largely been driven by standard politics.

Rishi Sunak’s calm and polished delivery seems to have calmed Tory nerves after an early rebellion over Huawei slashed the government’s majority. But massive programmes of government borrowing and spending aren’t a natural policy offering for Tories. If the economy — as seems almost inevitable — takes a hit this year, this change might find it has fewer champions than is currently the case.