And for his next trick, a balancing act!

Rishi Sunak is soon to deliver his budget address, in the midst of the first steps toward recovery by a country ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic. The debate has already been raging in the past two weeks, internally at Conservative HQ and publicly, about how to reset the British public finances after the wartime levels of spending in the last year.

Whether by corporate tax, which we know is set to rise, or by way of a freeze on the the levels at which taxpayers hit the 40% tax threshold, he is likely to be under pressure to act fast and to act decisively. On the other side of the equation lies a country in continuing need of stimulus as activity returns and business work to get back on their feet, or merely avoid the brink. Should he park the debt and tackle it just like the cost of world wars were, or should he move to put the country back in shape as quickly as possible? One thing's for sure: his job is the least envied job in England for the next few hours...

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