This year the mood is somewhat different, with his successor, Jeremy Hunt, admitting he won’t be bringing much festive cheer to Thursday’s Budget. Sitting in the same office downstairs in No 11, the new chancellor says: “I am Scrooge who will do things to ensure that Christmas is never cancelled. “But I hope people understand that there are going to be some pretty horrible decisions to get us back to where we are the fantastic country that we all want to be.” Hunt, 56, took over four weeks ago, replacing Kwasi Kwarteng, who was fired by
