Hi, I'm Anouche, and I'm Stephen.

And on today's New Statesman podcast, we're joined by David Gork, former chief secretary

to the Treasury and a New Statesman columnist to talk about the impact of the budget.

And then you ask us, why do Tory MPs vote to keep dumping sewage into rivers and beaches,

and is it a gift to the Lib Dems in the Blue Wall?

So, we're recording the morning after the Chancellor Rishisunak delivered his budget,

in which he announced a real-terms rise in spending for all departments, with an extra £150

billion worth of spending on public services.

Madam Deputy Speaker, this budget is about what this government is about, investment in

a more innovative, high-skilled economy, because that is the only sustainable path to individual

prosperity, world-class public services, because these are the common goods from which

we all benefit.

Backing business, because our future cannot be built by government alone, but must come

from the imagination and drive of our entrepreneurs, help for working families with the cost of

living, because we will always give people the support they need and the tools to build

a better life for themselves, and leveling up.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, filling in for Keir Starmer who had tested positive for

COVID-19, so had to stay at home, responded by saying his high taxation and other measures

would not help people through rising inflation and the cost of living crisis they face over

winter, accusing him of living in a parallel universe.

Families struggling with the cost of living crisis, businesses hit by a supply chain

crisis, those who rely on our schools and our hospitals and our police.

...