𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Dear reader, the M25 celebrates its 40th birthday today. The repair-infested “Road to Hell” is one of the UK’s most maligned creations of the 70s. A bit like Labour Budgets, I hear you say.

John Healey’s debut as Chancellor was no different – he kept to the Left, went round and round in circles and nothing got fixed.

His hour-long snoozefest bored the pants off everyone and failed to address the multitude of issues facing Britain.

Kemi Badenoch bellowed “Is that it?” and she was right. Nothing on slashing the welfare bill and faint vows on defence spending that will have Vladimir Putin popping Vodka corks.

Healey, with the air of an undertaker, promised to give everyone some “breathing space”.

I wasn’t sure if he was talking about those having to endure his 56-minute fiscal drag in a clammy Commons or to the country.

He read out numbers about the “resilient” economy before reading out more numbers about how we’ll all be screwed by 2030.

Nancy Pelosi, the ex-speaker of the US House of Representatives, who was sitting next to me, left after 15 minutes.

I’m sure she’s listened to plenty of garbage in her time but surely nothing quite as dull. Maybe it was nerves but the Chancellor’s delivery was all over the place, making a slip about Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh “opposing” the government’s plans for North Sea drilling and appearing to refer to Aldershot as Alders**t.

It was left to Mrs Badenoch to eviscerate the Budget as “not good enough, not strong enough, not bold enough”.

Earlier, at PMQs, she had ridiculed Andy Burnham over his Brexit flip-flopping, with the PM refusing to rule out a referendum.

All this prompted a bookmaker to shorten the odds of a general election in spring.

That was until the King of the North later said there wouldn’t be one in the next 12 months.

Some breathing space at last!