Allegra Stratton: Pre-Budget Pitch-Rolling Has Gone Wrong

We’ve been subject to constant pre-Budget pitch-rolling for the last few months — but it looks like this morning someone finally found the kill switch.

The lumbering machine has been way too effective: it’s flattened the grass and topsoil, and may have even run over the toes of its driver. What’s worse is that the government now say they didn’t really need to do it in the first place, with the Treasury giving a clear steer that the chancellor is now not raising income tax.