Successive Prime Ministers and Chancellors have all feared the publication of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s economic forecasts, which were due to be delivered next week.

Instead of the OBR report, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will deliver a full budget statement on November 17th, accompanied by fresh economic forecasts from the OBR.

Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt will bear the responsibility for repairing the damage caused by Liz Truss in the final days of her Premiership. But Sunak has promised to tackle the daunting prospect of more austerity with the utmost care.

It is hard to see how the Prime Minister can afford to provide the NHS with anything close to the amount of funding it will need but there may be some movement immigration, as Sunak is known to favor more liberal regulations.

Sunak rejected the Opposition calls for an immediate General Election. The rationale for an election is that since no one voted for the current Prime Minister, he does not have a mandate to govern. Such an argument is deliberately obtuse. It lends itself to American electoral rules rather than British.