Jeremy Hunt has confirmed that Prime Minister Liz Truss’s economic vision is not only dead, but that the immediate actions of this administration will be to do almost exactly the opposite of what the prime minister promised during the summer leadership campaign.
This was a cold, hard reality check from a chancellor who is being upfront about the fact that his primary purpose is to put out the fires started by the government he’s just joined and restore some semblance of credibility to the UK economy.
Some taxes will rise, some will be cut more slowly than expected, and public spending will be trimmed with every department asked to find savings.
Politics live: Jeremy Hunt warns of ‘tough decisions’
Does this mean pushing back the 2023 cut to the basic rate of income tax? Can the Ministry of Defence still expect its funding increase? Is there any chance of public sector pay rises reaching anywhere near inflation?
Politically, there is an argument to be made that Jeremy Hunt is now more powerful than the prime minister.
Hobbled by U-turns on her flagship policies, Liz Truss has reached for this experienced old hand to bring stability.
As such, he is virtually unsackable and now holds significant power to force through unpopular policies on the basis that they are needed to remedy the mistakes made in the last month.
But politically, this will be painful for the government.
Attempts to trim the budgets of departments will be met with resistance from cabinet ministers.
Ultimately, the Conservatives will likely head into the next election having overseen a prolonged period of pain in the country.
The tragedy for the party is that much of it could have been avoided.
