‘It won’t shift the polls’: Tory MPs rue budget that lacked pre-election pizzazz

Headline cut to national insurance rate echoes measure taken in autumn statement, which made little impact on voters

Jeremy Hunt has spent weeks managing expectations over potential tax cuts in his spring budget, with Tory MPs desperately searching for ways to avoid election defeat as household finances buckle under a record tax bill and the cost of living crisis.

As the chancellor's fiscal headroom shrank in the run-up to the budget, so did his plans for spending in areas such as housing and defence, as he promised he would not take any risks" with the British economy despite all the political pressure.