Rishi Sunak’s sleight of hand aims to shift blame for hardship ahead

Analysis: Chancellor trying to distance deliberate political choices from declining living standards

Rishi Sunak's spring statement opened by summoning the power of free societies and open markets, as a counterpoint to Russian aggression in Ukraine. What the authoritarian mind perceives as division, we know are the passionate disagreements at the heart of our living, breathing democracy," he said.

It was a Thatcherite rhetorical flourish aimed at stirring his supporters on the Conservativezx backbenches, but also framed the statement as a response to the war, which Sunak said had made the UK's economy more fragile and underlined the need for security" at home.