Dharshini David: Healey buys himself some time, but big questions still unanswered

So the chancellor appears to have bought himself some breathing space. But that means some big questions have been postponed until another day, not least on public services.

Higher-than-expected inflation may mean that if areas such as health and defence are prioritised, budgets for some other "unprotected" areas – justice and higher education for example – are set to lag behind inflation after 2028.

There was a hint too from John Healey that he'd tap into some of those budgets to help out defence spending. To maintain those budgets in 2030 would means finding tens of billions of pounds.

And issues around the other big area of spending – welfare – remain unresolved. Between 2025 and 2032, spending there is set to increase by £100bn.