Loosening or abandoning the current fiscal rule now would put debt on a clearly rising path. "The Chancellor is hemmed in by a rising deficit and fiscal targets set out in the Conservative manifesto. But they will not allow substantial increases in current spending, or tax cuts, to be funded by more borrowing. "We have already had 16 fiscal targets in a decade, and fiscal targets should not just be for Christmas. Mr Sunak should resist the temptation to announce another and instead recognise that more spending must require more tax."

Source: Daily Mirror February 26, 2020 00:01 UTC