BUDGET day is fleeting. It is a day of great pomp and even greater circumstance in the House of Commons and there are few places that adore pomp and circumstance more than that building. Hours are spent getting the Palace of Westminster into shape. Cleaners work overtime. Central Lobby and the bits of that crumbling gothic Hogwarts seen on the TV are polished and propped up to last another day.
Outside, the world’s media set up shop, ready for the pundits and the passing politicians to report, pass comment and provide support for their dog in the fight.
Ambassadors stationed in London come to watch. All 650 MPs will squeeze into a chamber that only comfortably sits 450.
The atmosphere in that room is ferocious. More ferocious than it is during Prime Minister’s Question Time. It is parliament at its most partisan, its most tribal and most raucous.
Why? Because the economy is where elections are lost and won. Show that you know what you’re doing with the nation’s purse strings, and they’ll trust you as a government.
But it is also just one day. Osborne’s speech, the replies and quick analysis from the opposition politicians are all part of the show of government and parliamentary democracy.
In the red book that accompanies the Budget there are acres of details. The state of the country’s finances and the state of future plans are laid bare.
This is when the real scrutiny of the budget begins. Never mind the “dead cats” and “rabbits pulled out of hats” from yesterday’s session in the Commons.
The sugar tax, a laudable plan, or at least an attempt to do something to tackle the UK’s obesity problem, is welcome. But make no mistake, this is a dead cat. A diversion.
We’re being asked to look at the sugar tax, talk about the sugar tax and avoid the poor growth, the debt, the cuts to personal independence payments.
Because this should be the real legacy of this Budget, of this government and of this chancellor. Cuts to benefits for the disabled look set to amount an eye-watering £4.2 billion over five years. The Tories say the most vulnerable will be protected. We have very little confidence in them. Let us hope the sideshow of the sugar tax does not get in the way of the small print being properly scrutinised.
How much will Scotland be hit by plans to cut departmental spending by £3.5bn? Will it be £1bn as the Scottish Government suggests.
How exactly will the Budget go from a £21.4bn deficit to a £10.4bn surplus? Osborne has signed us up to a decade of austerity.
Yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn gave his best speech in the Commons since becoming Labour leader. He didn’t bother Osborne one bit.
As Boris Johnson implodes over Europe, the Chancellor looks increasingly like the favourite to replace Cameron.
That second referendum on Scottish independence can’t come soon enough.
Swinney: Budget will slash cash for essential services
Budget 2016: Help for the oil and gas industry – but not enough
Budget 2016: Sugar tax is hailed but Irn-Bru bosses left with bitter taste
Budget reaction: ‘Next generation will be the poorest for decades’
Budget 2016: Only one Scottish charity to benefit from 'tampon tax' fund
Budget 2016: V&A museum bosses welcome £5m extra funding
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