The Government has set a budgetary trap for itself and has no option now but to walk right into it. Its answer to not meeting the great expectations it has built up for budget day through its incessant promises on a whole range of fronts will take two forms.

One will be to overdeliver a little bit on the figures leaked out in recent weeks in key areas of tax and welfare, in the hopes of some grudging acceptance from voters.

The other will be the “jam tomorrow” strategy of promising more in budgets to come – additional increases in the tax bands, more on childcare costs, child poverty and helping people with a disability. Like the Metro, we will be told they are all on the way.

[ Millionaires’ tax central to People Before Profit Budget 2027 proposalsOpens in new window ]

Since day one, the Coalition has overpromised on a range of fronts and – by not setting priorities – has made under-delivery inevitable. It only has itself to blame. It started early. Its programme for government, negotiated as a compromise wish list, made a host of promises in areas such as tax, welfare supports, housing, childcare costs, disability payments and many more, with no sense of priority or costings.

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