The good, the bad, and the open data of the Budget

Five short Budget takes

After months of speculation, weeks of not-so-subtle press releases dropping hints, and one spectacular leak… we now know what was in the Budget.

It was a significant moment. Arguably the most important political event of this Parliament. But not for the reasons you might think. Sure, it sets the overall direction of the British economy, and sets out the government’s priorities, but as two of our premier news podcasts tell us, there’s something bigger at stake: what it means for Rachel Reeves’ career.

Who needs lobby correspondents for this sort of content after all?

More seriously though, it was obviously a mixed bag of good and bad developments in policy areas that I care about. There were a number of elements I liked a lot – and a few I found intensely annoying. So in that respect, it was much like the TV show The Newsroom.

Anyway, that’s why I thought I’d offer up five shorter takes on elements of the Budget that hit upon the sort of topics I write about in this newsletter. So if you’re interested in infrastructure, transport, energy, local government, and/or open data,¹ join me below the paywall, and let’s dig into what the Budget had to say!