Is U.K.’s Finance Minister More Lucky Than Good?

The budget statement U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne made on Thursday was a reminder of why politics in the mother of parliaments is such good fun. The House of Commons was a roaring bear pit, and Osborne’s speech left the Labour Party’s economics spokesman red-faced and flailing. It was classic parliamentary pantomime.

Showbiz aside, Osborne has been lucky: For the first time since he took office in 2010, the economic news in Britain is good. The U.K. is expanding faster than any other large developed economy, and Osborne gleefully took the credit. Look a little closer, and there’s a bit less to celebrate.