Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson are throwing spending commitments around like confetti to win votes. Fiscal Phil Hammond has been roused from the Treasury to warn

“We have to live within our means and people have to be honest about the consequences of either spending more money or of cutting taxes. My concern is that this Government has built up a reputation for fiscal responsibility. The British people have worked incredibly hard over a decade now to rebuild our public finances and I think it’s very important that we don’t throw that all away.”

Britain is leaving the EU in part because of the billions it costs every year, those billions are a fraction of the size of the annual deficit. Britain has successfully avoided a recession for a decade. When one comes, and it will, with interest rates at long term lows without having closed the deficit it will be difficult to cope. The deficit was supposed to have been closed by 2015, will it ever be closed?

Watching litany of unfunded tax & spending promises pouring out from Johnson & Hunt, it’s obvious they are relying on that magic money tree they were shouting about in the last election. Thanks to them, Labour has become confirmed as the voice of sound, economic, common sense.

— John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) June 22, 2019

The long-term political consequences of making bold spending commitments are that Labour will say it shows there is plenty of money to spend. In fact they already are doing exactly that…