The Budget contained a welfare bill. It also contained a promise to cut it. It did not contain a date, a figure, a department, or a single sentence that could be checked against a calendar.
Asked for a timetable, the Prime Minister said he wanted to cut the bill ‘as soon as we possibly can’. Asked what ‘possibly’ meant, his office said it was a matter for the Treasury. The Treasury said it was a matter for the Department, and the Department said it was a matter for the next Budget.
Is this a plan? It is a feeling with a lectern.
Opponents have pointed out the absence of detail. Supporters have pointed out that the absence of detail is what makes it so flexible. Ministers have pointed out that they are working on it, which is what ministers said last year, and the year before that.
The phrase has one great advantage: it can never be wrong. ‘As soon as we possibly can’ will be true on the day it is said, on the day the bill is cut, and on every day in between when it is not. It is a promise with no expiry date, which is the only kind politicians can keep forever.
Downing Street has confirmed the timeline remains under review. The review has no end date either.