Well, who would have expected it? Hunt blamed the country’s current financial problems on Putin. Nothing to do with more than a decade of Tory mismanagement of the economy. Nothing to do with the disastrous Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss budget which he has now all but reversed. Our low growth rate and our troubles are caused by anything other than the Tories. Of course, we have are weathering bitter storms but the Tories left us unprepared for those storms. Now we must all pay the price.

The big lie of this budget is that there have been no tax rises. Tax rates haven’t gone up but people will pay more tax.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast makes grim reading. The UK’s inflation rate to be 9.1% this year and 7.4% next year, contributing to the squeeze on living standards. The UK is in recession and growth will slow.

Our November 2022 GDP growth forecast. Full forecast published after the Chancellor’s #AutumnStatement speech pic.twitter.com/U1iKT9KFaC

— Office for Budget Responsibility (@OBR_UK) November 17, 2022

Here are just a few points from today. There are many more.

Hunt recognised that a lot of people have left the labour force after Covid-19. A review of the reasons for this report by early next year. As if it were not obvious. People seeking better, less pressurised lives is clearly not what the Conservatives desire. And of course, no mention the impact that Brexit has had on labour supply – seasonal, permanent, skilled and unskilled being in short supply. There is to be a review of retirement age. Younger people can forget dreaming of getting away from the pressures of bosses and the rat race for a few years longer than they hoped.

The squeezed middle, already squeezed by soaring mortgage and other borrowing costs, will be squeezed further by the lowering of the threshold for 40% tax. This is a move that is not regressive but will hit people whose commitments are at their financial limits.

The freezing of the level at which the basic rate of tax kicks in on earnings has been frozen at £12,571. That is regressive. The National Living Wage is being increased to £10.42 an hour. Good news, although the costs will fall on employers and the tax incurred as people that will earn more than £12,571 will be collected by the government.

Council taxes are due to rise by up to 5% for unitary and county councils with responsibility for social care. This transfers some of the pain and political pressure of raising taxes from Westminster to town halls. But this won’t solve the financial crisis in local government. A council tax rise of 5% would raise around £1.4bn, however more deprived urban areas will raise much less than wealthier rural areas according to the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities (Sigoma) (£). Council tax would need to rise by 20 per cent to fund the current costs of social care and other budgetary pressures (£).

However, the Enterprise Zones beloved by Liz Truss have been abandoned, and the Green Book hints at a return to the long established entrepreneurial cluster model. Corporation tax will also rise as planned, though briefly abandoned.

Devolution deals are expected to be agreed with Suffolk, Cornwall, Norfolk and “a major authority in the north east of England”. Not York and North Yorkshire by any chance?

The government has recommitted to major infrastructure projects including Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2. Will Esther McVey stick to her commitment to vote against tax rises because it didn’t cancel HS2? I very much doubt it. Because…

The big lie of this budget is that taxes haven’t gone up. Tax rates haven’t gone up, though they will for business next year. But personal allowances have been frozen and for higher earners they have gone down. These are tax rises by anyone’s bank account.

* Andy Boddington is a Lib Dem councillor in Shropshire. He blogs at andybodders.co.uk.