IT’S NOT difficult to see why nobody would want Chancellor Philip Hammond to organise their Guy Fawkes fireworks display. It would be an evening of damp squibs and even damper quips. 

Wealthy villagers would be enjoying a rather fine barbecue, free of charge, while the disappointed crowd would be told to buy the high-priced rancid burgers and be grateful.

Today was the budget speech that wasn’t. Instead, the Chancellor of the Exchequer repeated some of the lowlights of his Autumn Statement last November — there weren’t any highlights — and congratulated himself on a job well done.