But the good news is that the Tories have promised that they will balance the budget by reducing spending, not hiking taxes, so today’s tax reductions will not hopefully be cancelled out by bad new taxes in other areas. The delaying of the tax cuts to after 2017 is meant to help make sure that the budget is balanced by then but there can be no doubt that the 2015-20 period will have to see far greater cuts to public expenditure than many people expect. In fact, with the NHS budget ring-fenced again, and the economy more likely than not to be hit by some as yet unpredictable shock at some point over the next Parliament, the fiscal path will be very tough. It will be manageable, of course, but only with a will of iron and much political cunning.