Rishi Sunak's budget prompted accusations of political bribery from opposition politicians.
- Credit: PA
As the country struggles to find a way back to normality after the Covid crisis, last week's budget is starting to look like a very big step to business as usual so far as politics is concerned.
It had all the elements you expect of a budget over the last few years - lots of good headlines on the day itself and many people thinking they'd do quite well out of it.
Then the gradual realisation over the next 48 hours that there were some pretty unpleasant surprises contained in the small print - and the opposition get the chance to cry "foul" over one of the key elements of the announcement.