On first glance, the budget – AKA Autumn Statement – wasn’t as bad as many people feared.
As I wrote in my previous column, the Government scares us all through threatening to sacrifice sacred cows like the triple lock on pensions or Sizewell C, but in the event deploys an intricate set of smoke and mirrors to hide the real pain.
On income, while the 20 per cent and 40 per cent headline rates may have not been increased, the thresholds at which people start paying them have been frozen in cash terms. Yes, I know Gordon Brown used similar ‘stealth tax’ raises but, under him, people’s incomes and our public services were indisputably in a better state.

Conversely, with this Conservative government, we are all poorer. We are set to experience the largest fall in disposable income since the late 1940s. The UK is the only country with an economy smaller than before Covid-19. Despite the rhetoric of a ‘recession made in Russia’, the fact is other G7 nations who are more dependent on imported Russian gas are still doing better than the UK.

On public spending, the Government has broken its commitment in its 2019 manifesto and will run a budget deficit for day-to-day spending – rather than only borrowing for capital investment. It’s also shunted the bulk of spending cuts to – you guessed it! – after the next election.
The Autumn Statement wasn’t good news for local authorities either. A 5 per cent tax rise in Dorset seems inevitable, especially since Dorset receives no central government funding. While the reduction in business rates for small retailers confirmed in the Autumn Statement is welcome, that will also – unless I am misunderstanding something – reduce the amount of business rates Dorset gets to keep as its share. So expect a further squeeze on local authority delivered public services.
Expect more of what Dorset Council is trying to do on library services. As Shaftesbury town councillor Andy Hollingshead has pointed out, its consultation on library opening hours doesn’t even allow you to say you want the library to open the same times as it does currently. Instead, you’re presented with a cut of 25-50 per cent in opening hours, and you can merely tick a box for when it remains open.

Finally, a little announcement. I have taken up a different job that requires me to be rather more circumspect politically. Unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on your view – this means I won’t be able to write a column on national or party political issues anymore.
So, most of the Labour columns will be written by Alan Cross going forward. Thanks for reading my wittering and I’m sure you’ll hear from me again on my local hobby horses from time to time.