When George Osborne looks back
on 2015 he will reflect on a year of triumph and near disaster. The triumph was the Conservative majority in the May general election in large part driven by voter perception that he could be trusted on the economy and his opponents could not. The chancellor who played a significant part in the election strategy could reflect happily on a decisive victory over his austerity critics.
Perhaps that was part of the problem when it came to his Budget on 8 July. The election it seemed had endorsed the Conservative manifesto pledge of...
