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In Rachel Reeves’ inaugural budget, the first-ever chancellor delivered £40bn in sweeping tax rises to plug funding shortfalls in the NHS and schools.
While it left many of us with something to feel miserable about when it comes to our money, there were also some major bullets dodged, as Simon Lambert, Georgie Frost and Helen Crane discuss in this week’s podcast.
Among the losers of the autumn budget were homeowners, investors and those who have hidden wealth in their pensions, as stamp duty, capital gains tax and inheritance tax came into the spotlight .
The attack on the middle classes was perhaps to be expected from a Government that has told us that those with broader shoulders must bear a greater burden.
But apart from an increase in the minimum wage and 1p a pint, did the Budget give ‘workers’ enough of a boost? And will changes to employers’ National Insurance contributions indirectly hit them in the pocket anyway?
With growth being the buzzword in Labour’s election campaign, did Reeves miss an opportunity to get people excited about British industry and entrepreneurship?
We also delve into what wasn’t announced in the speech, including a not-so-fond farewell to Britain’s short-lived Isa and a change to child benefit that could have helped single parents finding themselves broke.
Changes: Rachel Reeves introduced £40bn of radical tax rises in this week’s budget