What is the point of this Labour government? The budget offered no compelling answer

Something else missing from both this budget and the government more generally is a consistent and convincing programme for driving up the productivity of the public sector.

- Andrew Rawnsley

This failed to be a game-changing budget' House of Commons

Thoughtful Labour people privately lament that there is no coherent plan. In the New Labour years, additional resources for public services were tied to projects for change. This did not always deliver the efficiency gains and service improvements promised, but it did underline an intent to show that government was doing its level best to extract the maximum bang from each taxpayer's buck. Taxes as a share of GDP will increase to an all-time high of 38% in 2029-30, five percentage points higher than the pre-pandemic level.

There has not been a commensurate increase in levels of public satisfaction with the services they are receiving. Rather, the reverse. The median voter does not like tax hikes. They are even more averse if they don’t feel they are getting anything much back for their money.

Another missing piece is the answer to the overarching question: what is the point of this Labour government? Growth was once heralded as the number one mission. Sir Keir Starmer will make a speech on the topic on Monday, perhaps trying to compensate for the absence of much about it in the budget. The “mission board” that was supposed to drive change has been abolished, while some cabinet ministers I speak to say they find Number 10 internally confused and divided about its attitude towards wealth creation.

A great peril for Labour is that its enemies will successfully define the government's primary purpose as higher taxes for more welfare. That combo has rarely been a recipe for either national prosperity or electoral success.