A Treasury borrowing binge is ‘unsustainable’ – but it will probably still happen

The IFS has advised the chancellor Rishi Sunak that he will have to raise taxes to avoid breaking his fiscal rules. In which case expect No 10’s ‘stooge’ to start ripping up the rulebook, says James Moore

Will Sunak defy Cummings and Johnson? Unlikely (EPA)

Rules? Rules? Who cares about rules.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has laid out three options for Rishi Sunak, the man whose official title is chancellor of the exchequer but for whom the word “stooge” has often been used, given the current official fiscal rules he’s supposed to be operating under going into the Budget.

His first option is to entrench austerity. We can probably bin that. It would be brutal, cruel, and damaging to the economy and there’s a decade’s worth of evidence for that.