Very occasionally there is a political earthquake when a minister resigns out of the blue and in so doing undermines the whole platform upon which the government has been built. Such an earthquake occurred yesterday. The budget, widely accepted as smoke and mirrors and rubbished by economists as full of wishful thinking and flawed assumptions, is undermined at its very core; tax cuts for the better off and business and benefit cuts for the disabled.
We were told we were all in it together and to ensure a strong economy it had to be done. Not only does it turn out that neither is true, it is revealed that the man in charge of the benefit reforms, Iain Duncan Smith, is so fed up with Osborne that he has walked away. Nobody seems to have seen him reaching for his coat and his announcement came as the biggest political shock in living memory.
For Osborne this is a fatal political blow. His days as Chancellor are numbered because nobody anywhere has any confidence left in his plan or his prophesies. Trust in his leadership of the Treasury is gurgling down the plughole with increasing velocity. He is no longer a serious contender for the Tory leadership as he has become a toxic brand. For the Tory party to choose him to lead them into the next election would be to emulate the charge of the Gadarene Swine.
And Cameron? Well he is boss of these people and their policies and Osborne is his number two. The Prime Minister is damaged badly, his government is now split on two fronts, both austerity and Brexit, and what is going to happen next only a fool can tell. But something will. Be sure of that.