HOW much can we expect the Government to take the sting out of the unprecedented cost-of-living crisis that is about to strike us all?

If you are a Conservative, you may well feel that Rishi Sunak yesterday did a pretty fair job in trying to shield people from the worst of what is to come. By not producing a spectacular giveaway, he may have kept some of his powder dry for the autumn, when we are facing scarily huge energy increases.

And, in signalling his intention to cut Income Tax in 2024, he showed the Tory party was going back to its roots having been forced into high taxing and spending just to keep the economy going through the pandemic.

But others may well think that Mr Sunak did not go far enough – he has left the average person to finance about two-thirds of the coming storm, and, most concerningly, he has left the poorest with very little to shelter beneath.

They will not understand why Mr Sunak is about to raise taxes just so he can say he will cut them in 2024.

The Spring Statement was generally underwhelming, largely because there was nothing new or original in it, but such is the magnitude of the cost-of-living crisis that is about to engulf us all, it may be that no government could have protected its people entirely.

There are some tough times ahead, and the Government must do its utmost to look out for the poorest who escaped Mr Sunak’s attention yesterday.