People involved in putting together John Healey's Budget are pushing back on the idea that it is a steady-as-she-goes affair with nothing to see, according to BBC political editor Chris Mason.
That cuts against the framing reported earlier by Bloomberg, which said Healey and Treasury officials were describing the package as "Do no harm. Steady as she goes. Focused."
Mason lists four themes for Wednesday's statement:
- cost-of-living support
- help for entrepreneurs
- more financial clout for English mayors
- a recovering economy
Writing 100 days after Andy Burnham arrived in Downing Street, Mason says Labour MPs are more upbeat and poll ratings have risen. He says a main question after the Budget will be how ministers fund defence spending of 3% of national income by the end of the decade, with trade-offs still to come.
Mason's account rests on unnamed sources. It does not confirm any tax or spending measure, and it has not been independently checked.