Not for the first time, it’s Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh who’s provided the standout fireworks from Rishi’s treasury select committee appearance. With Sunak once again flaunting his supposed low-tax credentials, McDonagh repeatedly blasted the Chancellor for whacking up the tax burden to unprecedented levels – at one point even asking Sunak if he thinks the public “are stupid”. Which seems excessive, although given her line of attack, McDonagh needs to remind everyone she’s a member of the opposition – and not, say, the Tory backbenches – somehow…

Rishi: “…I think you’re talking about through to the end of the Parliament, we’ve already had that conversation.”

Siobhan: “With respect, you don’t decide what questions we ask, or how often we ask them. Let’s do the maths though. When you add up all the proposed tax increases, and subtract your fuel duty, income tax, and national insurance pledges, the net result is a 3.3% rise in the tax to GDP ratio between 2019-20, and 26-27.”

Rishi: “No it’s a reflection of the fact that public spending is also, over that period, going to rise by over 2 percentage points of GDP… Government has to pay for the things it’s spending money on… rather than cut public spending, we’re raising the taxes to pay for it.”

McDonagh then went on to question the timings of Rishi’s proposed 1% cut to income tax, suggesting it was a cynical election ploy. Maybe it is, although it’s still pretty good politics. Labour are probably going to have to vote against a tax cut now after all…