Osborne must go for growth

The economy has shrunk unexpectedly, inflation has risen with crippling fuel prices leading the way, unemployment has reached a 17-year high and the Chancellor’s growth strategy has gone unheard, drowned out by local authorities shouting angrily about what the cuts will actually mean.

Today’s Budget, therefore, has to put the Government back on track, as well as the country. Indeed, the need for public support was demonstrated in yesterday’s carefully calibrated leaks, promising that Mr Osborne will cut tax breaks for the super-rich and ensure that big business pays its way.

Given the way in which the cuts are expected to have the greatest impact on the poorest members of society, it is only right that the Chancellor adjusts the balance by placing a greater burden on the better-off. Nevertheless, it is important that Mr Osborne resists the temptation to play to the gallery with cheap political gestures.

Taxing private jets, after all, will not go very far towards reducing the public-sector deficit and such measures suggest that the Chancellor’s prime motivation is a fear of Labour taunts rather than a recognition of Britain’s economic needs.

The reality is that targeting tax-avoidance schemes, while being a worthy aim, rarely raises the amount of revenue predicted. Mr Osborne, therefore, had better have some other rabbits up his sleeve if he is serious about this being a Budget for growth.

He has already hinted that he will curb rises in fuel duty to help rural communities and small businesses.

However, if his idea of a private sector-led recovery is to bear fruit, the Chancellor has to go much further in cutting back the taxes, regulations and burdensome bureaucracy that are stifling British business.