Analysis: Spluttering and gasping – just like the economy

He started perkily enough, although his ruffled jacket gave the impression of a man who had seen better times, but as he moved on George Osborne’s voice began noticeably to wane and he seemed to flag at the dispatch box. Maybe it was the weight of the task before him as the Office of Budget Responsibility – an independent body he set up to give the undiluted truth on the economy – gave a verdict that suggested things will not be getting better for a long, long time.

Like the OBR’s projection of the UK’s recovery, he spluttered and gasped his way to the end of the statement before taking his seat again, and only then with help of Speaker John Bercow in getting his Labour hecklers to shut up.

Across the chamber, his opponent, Ed Balls, fixed him with the sort of cold, angry stare Superman used for firing laser beams from his eyes. Maybe he had actually zapped Mr Osborne’s faltering larynx.

But it was the disgruntled Tory back-benchers behind that seemed to concern the visibly rusting iron Chancellor more, as he gave a statement that lurched the coalition to the right.

As he laid into the European Commission’s plans for a financial services tax to fund the eurozone crisis, hailed the return of Margaret Thatcher’s right-to-buy for social housing and announced an attack on health and safety, environmental regulations and employment rights, there were loud cheers from behind, drowning out Labour’s cries of “shame” and “robbery”.

Meanwhile the faces of Mr Osborne’s Lib Dem allies were a picture of glumness. The right-wing diet was clearly not to their taste, with Nick Clegg visibly gulping when the Chancellor said right-to-buy “was one of the greatest social policies of all time”. Further down the line, Tim Farron the Lib Dem president, could hardly contain his mirth. The man seen as the most likely replacement for Mr Clegg as party leader must have been laughing at how easy his task could be.