Dark forces at the OBR, stock manipulation - Badenoch's a sucker for a conspiracy theory

On days like this, Kemi Badenoch increasingly gives the impression of an over-excitable puppy with a low IQ, overwhelmed by all the different smells she can pick up on her walkies.

- John Crace

Convinced that this is going to be THE BEST DAY EVER and spoilt for choice as she is surrounded by countless enticing sticks. Yet somehow she always manages to grab the wrong end of each one.

There were any number of angles on the budget she could have chosen at prime minister's questions. The chancellor's promise at last year's budget that she wouldn't be coming back with more tax increases this time round would have been a start. Rachel Reeves had even made a commitment not to make further freezes to the tax thresholds. All this might have made for a tricky session for Keir Starmer.

And yet Badenoch just can't help herself. She is a sucker for any conspiracy theory going. So what we got from the leader of the opposition was clinical insanity.