The Tories are never happier than when they are cutting our public services at the same time as sneaking a few more quid into the wallets of the already well off. So it came as little surprise to find a £30 billion NHS cut buried in the small print of last week’s budget, alongside a half a billion-pound stamp duty cut for second homeowners and landlords.

It’s also depressingly predictable to hear the Tories try again to justify meagre pay rises and service cuts with Osborne-esque untruths about the country not being able to afford it. That wasn’t true the last time they tried that on, combining mega cuts with a £100billion tax bonanza for the rich and the biggest corporations. And it’s not true now when the last thing a responsible government should be doing in a huge post-pandemic slump is to suck demand out of the economy by scrimping on pay rises.