A Spending Review for age, devoid of commitments

Sajid Javid prior to this Spending Review speech

As Sajid Javid as he rose to his feet to deliver his first major address as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he cannot have helped reflecting on how different the circumstances were from how he had imagined it for so many years.

As a young boy he became obsessed with financial markets and spent his time reading the Financial Times rather that comics.

However, as he stood at the Dispatch Box to update MPs about the plans he had developed for the entire country’s economy, he was faced not with anticipated faces but rather a rapidly emptying chamber. Even the Prime Minister had to be reminded by a front bencher that he should stick around for the speech.

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There was little in the way of new announcements, nor was there ever likely to be. Indeed, one wonders why it was ever even deemed worthy of Parliamentary time.

The vast majority of its contents were commitments that had been previously revealed, particularly on matters pertaining to the North.

A vow to upgrade infrastructure contained no announcement on cash or timings, merely being a repetition of pledges made before many times by Boris Johnson.

The commitment on Northern Powerhouse Rail went no further than that made before by Mr Johnson.

Northern Powerhouse Rail was among the matters mentioned which had already been previously announced

And for many in the North it was disheartening to hear Mr Javid parrot the words of former Transport Secretary Chris Grayling when he banged on about upgrading the existing transport infrastructure on our railways, work which is already beset by delay and prevarication.

The additional £2bn to help with “Brexit preparedness” is again of some comfort but do little to unlock the investment and growth ambitions of thousands of firms who are currently in limbo as they await even the most merge levels of clarity about how they will be able to trade and transact with nations across Europe.

The truth is that Mr Javid’s Spending Review was always doomed to be a far cry from the magnitude of which previous reviews have been received. The Government of which he plays a key leadership role had suffered two major defeats in less than 24 hours prior to his address.

It then suffered a major defeat after MPs backed legislation to take control of the Commons and try and block a no deal scenario.

Indeed, the only interesting economic commitment delivered in the Chamber that day had already been delivered by the Prime Minister when he agreed to look once again the ill-considered Loan Charge debacle.

The pledges made by Mr Javid are subject only to the economy remaining in growth, something already in jeopardy before we begin to contend with the possibility of a no deal Brexit.

If we do enter recession any new spending will be immediately placed under review and could quickly be undone by an emergency budget in November.

Only until the Brexit mess is sorted out can we begin to look at our nation’s economic future with any true sense of reality.

A Spending Review for age, devoid of commitments - Mark Casci