Opinion-in-brief: Budget traditions are traditions for a reason
Budgets are supposed to be secret. Apart from launch codes and special forces, they’re the most confidential part of government.
In 1947, the Labour chancellor, Hugh Dalton, had to resign because he let slip a detail of his budget on his way into the chamber.
They’re not just secret from the public. By tradition, the details of the Budget are revealed to the cabinet by the chancellor on the morning of the speech; strictly embargoed copies go to the deputy speaker of the Commons minutes before the chancellor stands up.
Rishi Sunak has ripped that form book to shreds. There will be few surprises in the Budget, and all of the details have already been spun, finessed, polished and countered.
They have simply been absorbed into the never-ending maelstrom of communications wars. It’s a shame: privileges of the Commons aside, a bit of theatre and surprise does us no harm. And it makes journalists work for their modest pay.