Sunak isn’t planning for business – he’s budgeting for the next election

The chancellor is politically astute, but there is less substance in his investment plans than it appears

For a chancellor who billed his budget as a moment to kickstart the UK's economic rebirth after the pandemic, Rishi Sunak's hour-long speech lacked substance.

A reform of alcohol duties - which seemed to excite the teetotal Sunak enough to visit a brewery immediately after the speech - may help the drinks industry, but it was a distraction too far for many business leaders. They were left in the dark about the overall strategy and how policies were likely to be implemented.