The government has delayed the toughest spending decisions – but here’s what we do know after the budget

By Steve Schifferes, Honorary Research Fellow, City Political Economy Research Centre, City St George's, University of London

John Healey’s steady-as-she-goes budget was a picture of a government doing its best to offer “what help we can afford”, while weathering the economic storms. But despite its 98 policy measures, decisions on some of the biggest issues appear to have been kicked down the road.

In the meantime, it seems that the real incomes of UK households could fall by 1% next year. This forecast, from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), offered a grim picture. It also predicted UK economic growth of

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