Nothing should be sacred as budget set to bite

So we will see Wednesday how nasty the budget bite is to be.

We know the broad parameters, and it has been clear over the last few weeks that the reality is beginning to hit home that the pain is not just not over but will be more intense.

A lot of the low hanging fruit is gone and we have heard time and again “nothing is off the table”. But of course, that is not the case. Whole ranges of things are, explicitly or implicitly, off the table and will not be touched in the budget.