Cant travel round on tractors. Its an all female group called the clams and its a tribute to the Rail Replacement bus. As i walked down on bank street one evening injuly i looked for a bus or a lift for us, but never one came by and away cornwall, my dear council and away cornwall, my dear council for Cornish Maids cant travel round on tractors there you go, thats a flavour of it. Want another one . I do want another one because im not entirely sure. Are we going to get to the chancellor or not . Eventually, but this is much more fun. So, this is riding on a donkey. Trains are cancelled, notice short how am i going to get to work . Bus replacement, that will hurt go and fetch the donkey hey, hey and away well go Donkey Riding, Donkey Riding hey, hey and away well go riding on a donkey. Thats it. I love that. What i want to know is whether any of those singers actually have a donkey. And if any of newscasters actually have a donkey, tell us about your donkey. I can tell you that we do have a donkey listener well, have a donkey listener well, not a listener, an owner because weve received an email in the past when i got into cat gate. Oh, yes cat gate was followed by a donkey. Offending the cat owners of the nation. So, we take our hat off to anyone who drives a Rail Replacement bus. We do. But being involved in Rail Replacement bus horror is very nasty for rail passengers, and theres going to be a few weeks of it. And there is nothing actually arriving at the station and seeing on the board Rail Replacement bus service. Youve nailed it. Now, were going to put that behind us now with the best route in the world. Route in the world, as you have been speaking to the chancellor. I have, and it is the budget on wednesday. Donkeys, newscasters, Everybody Strap in. Newscast. Newscast from the bbc. Its laura in the studio. Its paddy in the studio. And henry is having a little lie down again this weekend because its a busy week in westminster. But we are delighted to be joined by torsten bell from the Resolution Foundation, a think tank that does lots of number crunching. But we should also say to newscasters, you work for ed miliband, youre a labourfigure, prominent figure in Labour Circles as well. Youre making a face in ancient history. Id say im a prominent figure in Resolution Foundation circles, and we are an independent think tank. Ten years since you worked for labour. Nine years 2015 but long, long years. Goodness me. Weve brexited, since then weve pandemic ed, podcasts have been invented, sea shanties have been written. Much has taken place. A lot has happened. But have things changed in terms of what its like . Do you think being in the treasury when you are preparing a budget because you worked for alistair darling, do you think, being in the treasury when you were preparing a budget . Because you worked for alistair darling, he had to produce budgets in very, very difficult times. I remember then actually one of his budgets that came up and said, oh, debt might hit 89 of gdp at some point in the future. And everyone went, oh my god and actually, weve managed that. Weve managed that, and even worse. So, whats it like if youre in a Treasury Team at a moment like this . Well, i mean, its busy thats blindingly obvious. It is very different in just different circumstances. You know, writing a budget in happy Economic Times when theres good news to announce is quite a fun thing for chancellors. Remember, its a bit different nowadays, but if youre going back to the 2000s, you wouldnt see chancellors all the time. No. Gordon brown when he was chancellor would only be out four or five times a year doing big things. Two of those would have been fiscal events and they were basically opportunities to shape the political weather largely, in those days, by announcing good news and that obviously hasnt been the case that obviously hasnt been the case due to the less good news recently. Its a great point. And also weve gone into this year with rishi sunak promising tax cuts being leading the government with the biggest tax take since 1945 and the chancellor being the man who has to add them up. Yeah, i mean, you saneremy on lauras show earlier. Your first question to him was, did you feel a bit silly having told everyone there was tax cuts coming a few months ago and now wandering around telling everyone, maybe not quite as much as we thought . And he didnt say this because hes a loyal member of the government, but the honest answer is he must feel silly. Its a really silly situation for a chancellor to be in, and the bit he cant say is he didnt have any choice because rishi sunak had already gone out at the beginning of the year and started promising those tax cuts, so he was going to have to say thats whats coming. And tell us why that matters rather thanjust, you know, someone sitting in my seat asking a facetious question of the chancellor. It is not a question. But its not a question to be facetious. Why does that matter that a chancellor and a government is going around saying, aha, yes, we really think we can cut tax and thats going to be marvellous, only then a couple of months later, yeah, probably going to be cut tax, but probably not by very much. Why does that matter . Well, i think theres two reasons why the substance of it is silly. So, the first isjust. You havent received the official forecasts at that point back in january in any detail. They can move around a lot and youve learnt that over the last few years. And so setting your economic or indeed your political strategy before you know where youre going to end up in march is just not very sensible. But theres a specific thing, which is the reason were in that situation is because weve got into a world where decisions about those forecasts, even quite small ones. So, it doesnt sound small to have like 5 billion change in a forecast in either direction because obviously 5 billion, cos obviously 5 billion, to any of us is a huge amount of money, but 5 billion is a rounding error in the public finances. But it is really affecting what the governments able to do. And the reason thats happening is because they are running so close up against their fiscal rules, you know, to have debt falling at the end of the five year period, theyre running right up against it and that is why theyre getting themselves into trouble. We are going to talk about the fiscal rules, but we mustjust hear from the chancellor. Here he is. Where its possible to do so responsibly, to move towards a lower tax economy, and i hope to show a path in that direction. But this will be a prudent and responsible budget l for long term growth, tackling inflation, for long term growth, tackling inflation, more investment, more jobs, and that path to lower taxation as and when we can afford it. So, to translate, youre probably going to get a bit of tax cut, but probably not very much. And oh, look, im mr prudence sounds a bit like gordon brown. And thats the interesting thing here. Hes having to reflect a worsening economic picture within the spending limits that the government has set itself. Now, today, weve already used the hideous jargon fiscal rules a lot. Thorsten, give us for newscasters a laymans easy to understand a laymans easy to understand version of what that actually means. Well, in the case of the government today, the fiscal rules so theres not a real rule. Its a rule. Yes, theyre a choice. Imposed by the chancellor. Although its the same one that the Shadow Chancellor endorses, at least implicitly, its that the level of debt. So, not the day to day borrowing that youre borrowing extra each year, but the amount stock of debt. So, like our mortgage for all of us in terms of the actual level of it, that will be falling between years four and five of the forecast. So, it has to just fall in one year, 28 29. And so long as thats happening, were meeting our fiscal rules. Now, why is he doing that . Because in the long run, were saying, look, debt should be on a downward trajectory because bad stuff happens. Because bad stuff happens, as weve all learned over the last 15 years. Also, this is the issue that tripped up the treasury tripped up the treasury secretary, the treasury on the deficit. Up the treasury secretary, yes, this was this was new low. Up the treasury secretary, new low. This was a new low. Not everyone did excellently well. I felt very sorry for the Chief Secretary of treasury. Well, it was a little crash. Putting past car crashes aside, lets talk about the biggest collision of all, which was the unfunded liz truss, kwasi kwarteng. Liz truss was worse than the Chief Secretarys cock up on. Liz truss was worse than the Chief Secretarys cock up. But lets just get to what faisal islam calls jeremy hunts origin story. He came in as chancellor and by simply being jeremy hunt in a pair of trousers, calmed the Financial Market before hed ever done anything. So, we were reminded jested by Faisal Islam Thatjeremy Hunt has to borrow Gordon Browns prudent statement, because that was how it all began for him. Yeah, absolutely. Look, most chancellors, most of the time, are saying that theyre being prudent people. In fact, even if theyre spending money and giving money away, theyre probably saying theyre doing it prudently, which again, is what he was doing. Kwasi kwarteng has told us that he was just wrong. Kwasi kwarteng is the one exception who, even after theyd done the Car Crash Mini Budget On Friday Afternoon in september, back in 2022, then went out and the markets had already started responding negatively on that friday afternoon, then went out, in fact, was on your show . It was yourfault in fact, wasit on your show . It was your fault on the sunday when the markets were closed, but the tv studios were not told them there was more cuts to come. And in a surprise move, the markets got even worse on the monday morning. Can ijust say, if youre listening to this rather than watching it, both paddy and thorsten were actually pointing the finger directly at me someone needs to take responsibility for the collapse in confidence in britain youre about to do it again fit to your pointy fingers away put to your pointy fingers away no, no. Now i want to hear what you think, because i think its your interview with the chancellor. So, i think he is in the classic rock and hard place, right. The economy is worse than they hoped, so theres not very much money to spend. Theyve got the obr, the economic watchdog, marking their homework and saying theres hardly any extra beans to go around. But on the other hand, youve got the tory backbenchers, youve got a public thats very well aware of the fact that theyre paying more tax than theyve ever paid. So hes got this absolute rock and hard place. Thats why you hear him then saying, im going to give you a little bit back, because i really believe that as a proper conservative, people should have as much money as they possibly can in their own pockets that was theirs through their own endeavours and hard work. It probably wont be enough for lots of people on his backbenches. But he, as a political character and as a chancellor, has resolved to try as much as he can to stay within the limits that they have set. Although i do think in listening to him this morning as well, there is this sense, and i think this is going to happen on wednesday, that the treasurys sort of been like scraping around for a bit here and a bit there and a new vape tax and a bit here and a bit there in order to try to give people a little bit back. And it might end up being that sort of messy middle, no one� s really that happy. But what happens when youre running so close to these fiscal rules because you end up in this silly situation where youre like. And chris, whos our editor today, newscast producer, says this is a very good time to hear jeremy hunt on the fiscal rules. Idont agree that we should change the fiscal rules because i think people would interpret that as britain losing. Control of its finances. I i do very strongly agree with andyl that we need a long term approach. That we need a long term approach. Now, hes talking about andy haldane there, who was on our panel this morning, who used to be the Chief Economist of the Bank Of England and who very forcefully said he actually thinks the way the spending limits have been set up is actually harming the economy. And everybody on our panel agreed. Is actually harming the economy. Actually, we had vicky spratt, whos a Housing Expert in journalist and who i think is fair to say shes sort of on the left of politics, broadly speaking. We had sir rocco fortier, sort of legendary hotelier, very much on the right of the political spectrum. They all said, actually, the way these limits have been set up is harming the way that governments take decisions because theyre not then able to take longer term decisions cos theyre not then able to take longer term decisions longer term decisions or make longer term choices because theyre so worried about being within these constraints. You could look upon it as someone lucky enough to get a mortgage, of which there are fewer and fewer, if you came along and said you cant get a mortgage after 40, thats my new fiscal rule, you could call it a new banking rule, then everyone of 39 would be desperately trying to buy a house. Thats what the effect of the rule would be. And i know you do a greatjob, thorsten, in letting us understand it from the household budget. So, theres a lot of criticism of these rules and the obr. And is it fair criticism . Do you think some criticism of the regime that we now operate in, where the obr marks the homework before the budget and where the fiscal rules are set in the way that law is discussed with the chancellor, is it fair to think that this has constrained normal actions of a chancellor elected by the people . Theres lots of different moving bits in that, so lets share some. Its a very long question, paddy, so we can share some blame around. I mean, look, the underlying thing thats making things difficult is the substance, which is the economy is not growing very fast. Difficult is the substance, which is the economys not growing very fast. Tax revenues arent coming in as fast as we would like to see. A higher inflation era has put lots of pressure on Public Services who also have to pay for things. So, its the substance thats mainly making things hard and Everything Else is small compared to that. In terms of the policy freedom, then the chancellor chooses the fiscal rule. And if were honest and you didnt get into this on the show this morning understandably, on the show this morning, understandably but the fiscal rule is actually pretty loose. So, its not like george osborne, weve got to crush the deficit kind of approach. Its five years out. Its not really very large falls in debt being targeted. If you want to blame the rules, then the thing thats suboptimal about them is that they treat Investment Spending exactly the same as current spending. So it treats the stuff thats likely to help our growth in the long run transport, housing. Replacement buses yes, buying the bus, not running the bus. It treats that exactly the same as day to day spending. As day to day spending. And what that result of that to make it really concrete is when when jeremy hunt came in after the liz truss debacle, one of the things he did is to slash Investment Spending to make the numbers add up again. And that is a very bad thing for our long run growth. I thinkjeremy hunt knows that as well. She can say, im broadly going to keep the fiscal rules. She can allow herself to rewrite them and she can make a difference between Investment Spending and current debt. Well, i think she should, but thats not her position. Her position is exactly the same as jeremy hunts on the fiscals, but in the long run, that is the world we should get back to. But all i would say is its very easy for like people commentating on Economic Policy at the moment to say, oh, if the fiscal rules change like this, all the problems would go away and all the panellists did that this morning but that isnt the real world. Because as i say, the issue is not that we have really, really tight rules, that we loosen a bit, all these trade offs go away all these trade offs go away then we have actually quite we have quite tight quite a loose rule right now. It should just be changed in its nature. You know whats interesting is that i think weve actuallyjust had a really interesting debate about the high principles of this, about the rules and how theyre set and the institutions and the infrastructure around how budgets are put together rather than actually, here are some of the interesting measures that there might be. And that is not, newscasters, cos were trying to ignore some of the real world measures that might be announced on wednesday. But actually, maybe that suggests that wednesdays list of announcements might be kind of enough to put on a post it rather than a big thing. So, what should people be looking out for, for things that might actually affect their lives . And then what do you think the likely impact might be on the economy . Because we want to play you also andy haldane� s prospects for the economy in a couple of minutes. I mean, its true that its going to be a shorter list of measures this week. There was a huge, long list of hundreds of measures back in the autumn for the Autumn Statement this will be a much shorter list. I do think weve got ourselves in a slightly weird position onjudging the scale of whats being announced, because people are talking as if taking 2p off the basic rate of National Insurance in february and then coming back and take 1p or 2p off, as if 4p off National Insurance isnt a big deal. Its actually how the papers are talking today, and that is mad. If you looked at british politics over the last 30 years, youd think that was, like, huge as a Policy Agenda in terms of the concrete stuff. Look, we know some things were going to get. Why is the budget happening on the 6th of march, not later in march, like normal . Because he wants to scrap the 5p increase in fuel duty thats due on the 23rd of march. So that is an absolute locked on certainty. One, well definitely see a cut to National Insurance. So, the question is, is it 1p or 2p coming off it . Were seeing lots of smaller measures that may not get you excited, but on pensions reform then, which i think some of which are sensible, some of which look maybe a little bit less sensible, but theyre broad in the right. So well get a list of things. Hes going to talk a lot about Public Service productivity. He mentioned he is very focused on aland what that can do in Public Services. Im going to say three and four and maybe well add add in a vaping tax five. Yeah. But sorry, laura, imjust going to say that we are still getting where youve been. Youve been right before, which is you still going for something. Im very happy to be wrong, newscasters, and will be honest about it. Are we in this tresco, this triumvirate. Its a discussion with three people. Oh, is it all right . And until i got to know people who worked at radio four, i had never heard it. It sounds like a place in cornwall will be a real place, because i think one one of the basic rate is doorstep able. So, are you both telling me we cant see an election fought where we go . We see a tory candidate say we took a penny off the basic rate of income tax. Im not saying i cant see that. Im saying i dont think it will come this week, but i may well be wrong. I think the case im with laura, and i think the case for that is the chancellor made a big deal about choosing National Insurance over income tax back in the autumn. And remember, one of the first things he did as chancellor was to come in and reverse the cut in income tax that liz truss had put in place. So he would be having to go back on something hed done. Plus he really wants to be seen as yes someone doing as, yes, someone doing what the Conservative Party wants for an election strategy, delivering some tax cuts, but doing it in a sensible way because hes leaving his legacy is doing it in the best possible way. And it promotes work. It gives you a story about promoting work. The most important thing it does is that National Insurance does cause a lot of the problems in our tax system, and so bringing it down does remove some of those distortions. Letsjust have a moment, though, to think about the overall this was andy haldane� s take. Is there enough there to think thisll be the thing that gets growth going, that pays debt down . L the only way of paying debt down is getting the economy going . I not really. Thats not there. People are still Feeling Poorer and theyre Feeling Poorer people are still Feeling Poorer and theyre Feeling Poorer, i laura, because they are poorer. The tax take is going up, not down. Monetary policy is getting tighter, not looser. |and all of those are Big Headwindsj for growth that make me think this is another year of sogginess. Soggy, do you think soggy . Are you in the soggy camp . Id rather not be if there was an option available you dont get a choice. All right. Thanks, paddy. That was a very gloomy way of putting it. I mean, look, so big picture. Yes, look, the british economy has had a terrible 15 years, even before 2010. Unemployment 3. 9 . Unemployment is at 3. 9 , which is very low, historically. I think youre being one of the sort of. Liz truss would see you as one of those. I was about to tell you reasons to be perky before youjumped in there all right. I was about to get us out of the swamp, paddy, the soggy swamp. Im looking for a doorstep able thing to say. I mean, even if you have cut insurance, youre still going to say, ive cut your income taxes, youre going to say the same thing. Ive cut your tax on your paycheck. I dont think it makes that much. I remember. I mean, this is laura will know a lot about this, but if you do go for income tax rather than National Insurance, youre not campaigning on that in aberdeen because its not doesnt affect in scotland. They so i do think there are problems about for a conservative Party RunningElection Campaign purely on an Income Tax Cut anyway. But on the perkiness, to get us a bit perkier, look, inflation has come down much faster than people said last year. We could be, by mid may, be will get the Inflation Numbers for april. And the Energy Price Caps coming down . So, the Energy Price Cap will fall at the beginning of april. That basically guarantees you a large fall in the inflation. It could come down as low as 2 for all of us and for everyone at home. You know, thats a big deal. It means your wages will probably be rising faster than inflation. So, there is some good news out there, but this is happening they were in 2008, so people are going to feel pretty grim. I think weve given our newscasters there lots of nutritious, high fibre things to chew over. Ill also just briefly mentioned that we asked jeremy hunt about the Childcare Offer thats meant to happen in england in a few weeks time. He didnt guarantee, which labour were asking for, that every parent would get the place they wanted and no providers would go out of business. But he basically said, look, this is huge, were doing our best. We hope it will kind of work, but it might not work at the beginning. Lets finish with you, thorsten, on a more perhaps sort of human moment. Budgets are a huge deal, not just for the chancellor, but also leaders of the opposition. Theyre the ones who have to stand up and respond to it. Now, keir starmer� s not an economist. Ed miliband, who you worked for, had to do thatjob and he probably is more of an economist than keir starmer. But whats it like being the leader of the opposition, having to respond to that and being one of their staffers like watching on where you watch the Chancellor Sat up and give all these announcements and then your guy or girl has to stand up and Say Something coherent after that. So, one of the basic rules of life is that being the leader of the opposition is a terrible idea. Worsejob worstjob for any of you considering it, dont do it. Its not worth it. It will ruin your life, your family, everything about it, and suck the meaning from the core of your being. So, generally, its awful. I mean, being slightly more serious, one of the reasons its awful is because in anything in life, spending your whole life waiting for something to happen in future, for the chancellor to do something is kind of not a great place to be. And then to prove that its awful, are budgets where you, rather than the Shadow Chancellor, have to stand up and respond. And nowadays, actually we do know more in general and in advance of budgets than we used to because everythings briefed in advance, as you guys have said in yourjob. Especially as a conservative might very well steal a Labour Party Policy on Ending Non Dom taxes. Oh, thank you for that. Well just steal that. We need crimestoppers in ahead of this budget. Well, Rachel Reeves, shes going to be there. You just ruins. You just ruined. Thats the line that he was going to use youve just stolen starmers genius line i mean, if they do do that, that gives him a very easy thing to say, doesnt it . We were right. Were ready to go. Throw the keys across. Thats what you can say. I think its terrible is the answer. I mean, itsjust a terrible thing to do. And its also going to be very difficult for Rachel Reeves if she becomes chancellor because shes going to inherit all of this. Now, look, youve done an amazing job and on a sunday, but it cant go on. Which bit, the sunday . No, this amazing trisco. Sure. I bet you there is a place in cornwall called trisco and id love it if there was a shanty about it or if there had been a Rail Replacement bus dropping people off at trisco. And so now were going to say goodbye with a little bit of good news, which is to say that i wont be here next weekend. Thats terrible news. Thats good, because you will be reunited with adam fleming for the weekend editions of newscasts. Well, thats a first. How will i keep him in order . Well, its going to be great viewing and listening. Thats the whole point. Where are you going . Will you divulge . What it is, is because i do a sunday morning shift. Yes. I cant go out on Saturday Night. Ive got to go out on Saturday Night, so i cant work. I could come in, but i wont. Hang on, are you taking sunday off because youre incapable of going out on a Saturday Night without it turning into an Absolute Bender . It is kind of that is my life in a nutshell. Yes. So, that means i dont go out on Saturday Night, but i have got to go out on sunday night. So, therefore, im taking off. But i feel this is much more information than anyone wanted. No, i want more well, funnily enough, we have planned a Fantasy Dinner Party from an Anonymous Whatsapp on the subject of Rachel Reevess picks she wanted Garry Kasparov she wanted to be on say she wanted Virginia Woolf and now no wonder this is anonymous. I want adam, chris, laura, paddy and mel brooks. Oh, there you go thats not what youre doing next week, is it . No. So youre not having your ultimate dinner party on mfa . Because that would be really bad. Its definitely a goodbye moment. All right. Good bye, everybody. Thank you for listening. I will see you next week while paddy is off on the lash its true. I cant deny. I must push you for an answer. Its true. What youve said is true. Confirm or deny . No, i cannot deny. You confirmed all around. Thank you very much, newscasters. Goodbye for now. Goodbye. Newscast from the bbc. Hello. We did have a bit of spring sunshine around on sunday, but the clear skies are lasting through the night. The winds are fairly light, too, so temperatures are really dropping. Its going to be quite a chilly start to your monday morning. Could be A Touch Of Frost and some mist and fog patches. They should clear away. Therell be a bit more rain moving into the southwest later on in the day, but for most of us, its going to be a fine, bright, chilly start. Some fog, perhaps the vale of york, the welsh marches, central Southern England as well, that clearing away by around the middle of the morning. But generally, further north and east, you should stay dry for a good part of the day and temperatures will range between around 7 12 degrees. Now, moving into monday evening, thats when the patchy rain pushes its way further eastwards across parts of england, Eastern Scotland as well, tending to fizzle out a bit as it does so. Itll be another fairly chilly night as we head into Tuesday Morning for some parts of wales, central and Southern England as well, but not as cold as the current night. Now, as we move through monday night into tuesday, then this area of low pressure, this Weather Front continues to drift its way eastwards, but its tending to fizzle out. So, i think early tuesday, we are likely to see a bit of cloud and patchy light rain for Eastern England and Eastern Scotland. Once that clears away, sunny spells for most a little bit once that clears away, sunny spells for most. Little bit more cloud and a few showers in the west around some so pretty typical for this stage in early march. And then, as we look towards the middle of the week, then were going to see High Pressure sitting across scandinavia, where the fronts try and move in from the atlantic. But as they bump into that area of High Pressure, theyre not going to make too many inroads. So, for wednesday, perhaps some showery rain moving into the Far Southwest of england, perhaps northern ireland, a little bit breezy here. But for much of the british isles, i think things are looking dry and settled again. Some Early Morning mist, frost and fog possible clearing away to leave sunny spells and thankfully a dry spell of weather with highs around about 8 12 for most of us. So, as we look towards the middle part of the week, into thursday and friday, plenty of dry weather, could be odd spots of rain, particularly towards the west. Temperatures fairly typical of the time of year, and i think many of us will be pleased to see this. Quite a spell of weather through the weekend. Bye bye. Welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, im steve lai. The headlines. With a Ceasefire Deal in gaza hanging in the balance, the us Vice President renews joe biden� s call for an immediate humanitarian truce. Given the immense scale of suffering in gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire. What next for striking doctors in south korea, as they defy the government deadline to return to work. The uks Chancellorjeremy Hunt tells the bbc he wants to move towards lower taxes, but only in a responsible way. And, as the counting continues in irans election, unofficial reports suggest the lowest turnout since the islamic revolution. Welcome to bbc news broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. We begin in gaza, where a new ceasefire appears to be in question, after israel demanded more reassurances on which hostages are still alive. Pressure for a deal intensified after an incident on thursday where at least 112 people were killed as crowds rushed towards an aid convoy. Our Senior International correspondent orla guerin reports from tel aviv, and a warning her report