Not as bad as feared – but will it work?

 
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered her first budget. There was some good news for public transport but disappointment too
 Chancellor Rachel Reeves on budget day
 So there we have it, Rachel Reeves’s first budget, and altogether rather less gloomy than what had been heavily signalled almost since the day Labour took office back in July.
Once upon a time, the contents of a budget were a closely guarded secret, to be revealed only when the chancellor of the day stood up