By Laura Kuenssberg Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg To govern is to pick. But in the last couple of weeks, you would be forgiven for questioning if our politicalleaders can make choices at all. In January, the Conservatives were hanging the possibility of more tax cuts in the Budget in a coupleof weeks. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak guaranteed “more to come” after cutting National Insurance in November. Leaving more in your pay package was his “clear toppriority”. Just weeks ago, in the snowy surrounds of the millionaires’ mini break in Davos, the chancellor suggested lower taxes were coming with the odd push and wink. But now the chequebook appears to haveactually gone back in the pocket of the prime minister’s expensively-cut match. Talk of that supreme lingo “headroom” – theoretical extra money the Treasury can usage – has dried up. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is rather informing anybody who will listen that he mostlikely cannot offer you anything back after all. Be the veryfirst to indication up for the Off Air with Laura K newsletter, beginning this week. Get Laura Kuenssberg’s professional insight and expert stories every week, emailed straight to you. Labour is inching closer to ditching its promise to invest £28bn a year in green tasks – after months of dismissing the tip as rubbish. Whispers of the number disappearing from Labour’s prepares after the Budget appear set to come real. Interviewers aim to come up with ever more innovative methods to force shadow ministers to confess the figure is doomed. In both cases there are sensible factors for and versus each strategy. For the Tories, of course intuitively they all desire to cut taxes. Backbenchers have a energetic cravings for cuts. But the tax concern in the UK is at its greatest level giventhat records started 70 years back. A cabinet minister informed me the prime minster and chancellor desire to offer “robust clearness” and leave the public in no doubt they will cut tax as quickly as they can. The counter argument to cutting tax? Money is incredibly tight. There is not much money down the back of the couch. Shaving public costs and squeezing performance from taxpayers’ cash are both difficult to do. And the financial photo modifications so quick. No 11 Downing Street may have even less to play with than it looked like at the start of the year. It is tough to get a agreement out of economicexperts on
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