Why Rishi Sunak’s Budget will define an era

The coronavirus crisis may provide the chancellor with an opportunity to change the rules of the game, writes James Moore

Will Rishi Sunak be brave enough to tear up the government’s rule book?

Today’s Budget looks set to be one of those era-defining ones in which there is a shift in both direction and tone. Comparisons could include Geoffrey Howe’s 1981 monetarist monster that saw spending cut and taxes hiked in the middle of a recession (unemployment surged as a result), or George Osborne ushering in austerity.

That needs to come to an end. The coronavirus is seen to have spoiled the party for Rishi Sunak, the new chancellor, or perhaps (more to the point) Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings, whose fingers will be all over the big picture and the direction of travel.

But maybe not, because from crisis comes opportunity. There could scarcely be a better time than now to rewrite the government’s oft discussed fiscal rules, even to tear them up, if that’s what ministers want to do.