Following the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ damning report that this parliament will be the most tax-raising on record, the economic secretary to the Treasury Andrew Griffith confirmed concerns that the tax burden won’t be relieved any time soon.

Speaking on Times Radio, he was asked if he could commit to no further tax rises . “Regretfully” he replied, “I can’t give you a commitment“. He did at least assure listeners the Conservatives are “philosophically” in favour of a strong economy and “directionally” support low taxes. ‘In theory’ and ‘in practice’ aren’t quite the same thing…