There were two notable features of chancellor Rishi Sunak's budget for me. One, notable for what was there, one, for what wasn't. Both came in the third part of his speech where, having detailed what support the government was providing to cope with the pandemic and how he was going to start paying for it, he turned to his vision of the future economy. This, you sensed, was the part of the speech that really enthused the chancellor and this, perhaps, was where we caught a glimpse of what we may one day call Sunakism: an economy that is global, green, high tech, high skill, low tax, low regulation, with targeted investment in innovation and open to the movement of capital (and people). What was there no sign of? You guessed it: local government, local public services or local institutions of any sort. That matters, because whether or not you like Mr Sunak's vision of the future, it is clear that it is not viable, economically or politically, unless it has some link back to people and the places they live in.
展开▼
