Let's hope for a Budget which delivers real help - and no pasty tax please

It is usually always tense as the politicians and markets try to decipher the often less than subtle hints of what will be in the Chancellor's red box. But this time there is an added frisson as both the Labour Party and the country in general wait to learn if this really will be a turning point for their political and economic fortunes.

Whether this Chancellor will lay out a vision for Britain that the country welcomes, that the hope that Prime Minister Burnham has promised will begin to become reality and that it will avoid the disappointment that followed the financial statements of the Starmer era.

For the Chancellor John Healey, there is the challenge of keeping the reality of the financial plans under wraps until he stands up at the despatch box.

Secrecy has always been vital so that the markets cannot be pre-empted or played.

But in an era when leaks and speculations are the rule rather than the exception with government policy, it has become not only a greater challenge but an increasing irritant for Mr Speaker.

The practice of sending a minister out each morning to the media round means it has now almost become expected that TV and Radio programmes will be able to preview what Parliament is about to hear that day.

But that is not the way it is supposed to work and the fact that the Jackdaw decision was widely known before the minister spoke to the Commons did not go down well.

It is part of Mr Speaker’s role to ensure that members of parliament are respected and informed appropriately and the present incumbent, Lindsay Hoyle, has been forced to assert his authority on any number of occasions recently. I would hate to be in Chancellor Healy’s shoes if he is perceived to allow any leaks of the budget.

There is of course another reason to make sure that parliamentary protocols are observed and the wraps kept on until the budget statement.

It's a lesson the coalition government learnt the hard way in 2012.

As a special adviser I was made aware that it was imperative that no measure in the budget were leaked. It couldn’t happen.

But curiously most the speculation about what might be in the budget turned out to be quite accurate when budget day dawned.

The problem with that was that the media needed something more to says than “yes, it's much as we predicted”.

And then some eagle-eyed journalists trawling over the Red Book spotted what became known as the “Pasty Tax”.

Days of journalistic fun followed as ministers were asked when they last had a pasty, or what their favourite flavour of pasty-like savouries were. It’s not what we will all want to be talking about on Thursday.

The Liberal Democrats have called for some economic headroom for families, the Tories will want a reversal on inheritance tax.

I will be hoping for a budget that helps cut energy bills, invests in our infrastructure and kickstarts our economy.

And I think I really would rather my favourite fast food was not the question of the day.