Never has a Budget unravelled so much before a Chancellor has stood up to deliver it.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen press briefings and policy-testing from the Treasury, on an unprecedented scale.
And even today, the full Budget was leaked more than 30 minutes before the Chancellor spoke. This is market-sensitive information, and can carry a jail sentence for this kind of release. I want to see a full investigation.
To the Budget itself….
The OBR’s report is damning: living standards down, growth down, productivity down, taxes up, spending up, borrowing up.
Here’s what’s in the Budget at a glance:
National Insurance (NI) and income tax thresholds frozen for extra three years beyond 2028, dragging more people into higher bands over time.
Amount under-65s can put into cash ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) capped at £12,000 a year, with the rest of the £20,000 annual allowance reserved for investments.
Amount people can sacrifice from their salary to avoid paying NI on pension contributions capped at £2,000 a year from 2029.
Basic and higher income tax rates on property, savings and dividend income to increase by 2 percentage points.
Basic and new state pension payments to go up by 4.8% from April, more than the current rate of inflation, under the triple lock policy.
3p per mile duty on electric vehicles, and 1.5p on hybrids – to raise £1.4 billion by 2029/30.
Temporary extension of the fuel duty freeze, and one-year freeze to rail fares.
National Living Wage, for over-21s, to rise 4.1% in April, from £12.21 to £12.71 per hour.
Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds to go up 8.5%, from £10 to £10.85 per hour, as part of a plan to establish a single rate for all adults.
Spending on asylum accommodation is expected to cost £15 billion over the next three years – this is an upward revision from the Home Office’s previous estimate of £4.5 billion.
£1.8 billion on the mandatory Digital ID cards over the next three years.
The two-child benefit cap will be scrapped from April 2026.
Council tax surcharge on properties worth £2 million and over from April 2028 – with the revenue (predicted to be £400 million) to go to central Government, rather than remain with Local Authorities.
Reduction in the writing down allowance (WDA) main rate from 18%, to 14% by 2026 – this is the amount businesses can claim tax relief on for investing in their company.
Increase in remote gambling duty from 21%, to 40% in April 2026 – to raise £1.1 billion by 2029/30.
From April 2027, a new rate of general betting duty for remote betting will be introduced at 25%.
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And much more to come out over the next few days. You can read more as it unfolds here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cy8vz032qgpt
