Good morning. Don’t expect anything radical. This, the Treasury has been at pains to(竭力、费心) tell us, will be a very “low-key” budget. After weeks of speculation from journalists, a flurry(一阵、一连串) of press releases from thinktanks, and a photoshoot with an obligatory(强制性的、必不可少的) red box(红色预算盒), the chancellor(财政大臣), John Healey, will announce the details of the Burnham government’s first budget in the Commons today at 12:30pm.
早上好。别指望有什么激进举措。财政部一直竭力告诉我们，这将是一份非常“低调”的预算。经过记者们数周的猜测、智库一连串的新闻稿，以及一场少不了红色预算盒的拍照活动之后，财政大臣约翰·希利将于今天中午12点30分在下议院公布伯纳姆政府首份预算的细节。
Healey has been selling this as a series of measures designed to relieve pressure on low- and middle-income households under the mangled(被损坏的、被糟蹋的) tagline(口号、标语) of “breathing space(喘息的空间、喘息之机) for today, fresh hope for the future”. Many of the proposals have already been briefed(已通报、已透露), and their modesty(适度、保守) is a sign of the constraints – both real and self-imposed(自我施加的) – that his government faces. He has rejected calls to raise capital gains tax(资本利得税) or lower the mansion tax(豪宅税) and has promised to stick to(遵守、坚持) Labour’s fiscal(财政的) rules, while the Iran war has increased the cost of borrowing and eroded(侵蚀、削弱) his spending power.
希利一直把这份预算包装成一系列旨在缓解中低收入家庭压力的措施，口号是那句被弄得支离破碎的“今日喘息，未来希望”。许多提案已经提前透露，其保守程度表明政府面临种种制约——既有真实的，也有自我施加的。他拒绝了提高资本利得税或降低豪宅税的要求，并承诺遵守工党的财政规则；与此同时，伊朗战争推高了借贷成本，削弱了他的支出能力。
Voters might be hoping for something transformative(变革性的、带来根本改变的) from a government that risks presiding over(主持、掌管) the worst parliament for living standards on record(有记录以来). That’s the impression I got from First Edition readers and people struggling with the cost of living, who I spoke to for this morning’s newsletter about what they’d like to see from today’s budget. First, here are the headlines.
选民们或许期待一个可能主持着有记录以来生活水平最差一届议会的政府能拿出些变革性的举措。这就是我从First Edition读者和那些与生活成本作斗争的人们那里得到的印象——为了今早的简报，我与他们聊了聊他们希望从今天的预算中看到什么。首先，来看头条新闻。
Five big stories
五大新闻
In depth: ‘It’s not going to be ending 40 years of neoliberalism’
深度解读：“这不会终结40年的新自由主义”
What else we’ve been reading
我们还在读什么
Sport
体育
The front pages
报纸头版
The Latest
最新消息
Cartoon of the day | Ella Baron
每日漫画 | 埃拉·巴伦
The Upside
积极面
Bored at work?
上班无聊？