First we have a law to say that the government will not increase income tax or VAT. Now we are to have a law that says governments must run a budget surplus in ‘normal times’.
There are two thing s say. These laws are meaningless in that any government can repeal them at anytime. They are not written into the constitution because we do not have one. So they are the product of modern politicians who have trouble separating facts from spin. But they are also difficult to fathom, because if taxes cannot be increased and a surplus has to be maintained, what happens when money is needed ‘in normal circumstances’ but when miscalculation or other factors mean there is not enough to pay for something? Trident for instance?
What then Mr Osborne?