Category Archives: Budget

Doubts grow over number of NHS doctors helped by pension giveaway

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New figures reveal only 100 hospital doctors left NHS in 2022 due to voluntary early retirement, despite claims by Jeremy Hunt

The number of hospital doctors that could be helped by Jeremy Hunt’s pensions giveaway has been cast into doubt, after new figures revealed that only 100 of them left the NHS last year due to voluntary early retirement.

Criticism has mounted about the measure announced in the budget, which would scrap the up to 55% tax levied on lifetime pension pots worth just over £1m and raise the annual allowance threshold from £40,000 to £60,000.

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NHS workers expected to be offered one-off payments worth up to 6% as part of revised pay offer – UK politics live

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Health secretary expected to announce a formal pay offer to key unions later today

Sinn Féin’s US fundraising arm has caused a row by calling for a referendum on Irish unity in adverts in the New York Times, Washington Post and other US publications.

The half-page ads were paid for by Friends of Sinn Féin and ran on Wednesday urging support for unity referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. “It is time to agree on a date,” it said. “Let the people have their say.”

They’re ads from Irish American organisations whose view on reunification is well known and held for a very long time and they take out ads every year. So, the focus now needs to be on getting back to work [at Stormont].

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Budget: UK on track for ‘disastrous decade’ of income stagnation

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Thinktank says taxes as share of GDP are on course to reach 70-year high but public services are being cut

The UK remains on track for a “disastrous decade” of stagnant incomes and high taxes, despite cuts to public services, the Resolution Foundation has said in its analysis of the budget on Wednesday.

The thinktank, whose stated aim is to improve the standard of living for low- and middle-income families, said typical household disposable incomes were on course to be lower by the end of the forecast period in 2027-28 than they were before pandemic, when inflation was taken into account.

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Jeremy Hunt defends pensions giveaway as Labour vows to scrap it

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Shadow chancellor says decision to axe lifetime allowance is ‘wrong priority at the wrong time for the wrong people’

The Labour party has vowed to reverse the chancellor’s £1bn budget pensions tax “gilded giveaway” for the wealthiest 1% if it wins the next general election, as Jeremy Hunt defended his decision to scrap the lifetime pensions allowance.

The shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said Labour would seek to force a Commons vote next week on the decision, which critics argue will allow the wealthiest people to put a limitless amount into their pension pots, which can then be passed on to their heirs without paying inheritance tax.

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Jeremy Hunt is helping rich instead of helping people into work, says thinktank

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IFS says budget pensions giveaway could open up loophole for avoidance of inheritance tax

Jeremy Hunt’s huge pensions giveaway for the wealthiest 1% may have no impact on increasing the number of people in work, while opening a loophole for avoidance of inheritance tax, a leading economic thinktank has warned.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the surprise measure in the chancellor’s budget “probably won’t play a big part, if any” in increasing the number of people in work.

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Jeremy Hunt aims to spur business investment with ‘full expensing’ tax break

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Measure over next three years will allow firms to write off costs of IT equipment and machinery against tax on profits

Jeremy Hunt has launched a flurry of tax breaks to encourage investment by businesses after the double blow of microchip designer Arm opting for a New York stock market listing and AstraZeneca deciding to build a new factory in Dublin.

Businesses that invest in IT equipment and machinery will be able to claim back the cost by writing it off against tax on their profits, the chancellor announced in his budget on Wednesday.

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Jeremy Hunt makes U-turn on planned cut to energy support

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Campaigners unite with suppliers to call on ministers to give long-term help to struggling households

Ministers are under pressure to announce plans for a social tariff to help Britons struggling with their energy bills over the long term, after the government performed a U-turn on a planned cut to support for households.

On the morning of the chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s budget speech, the government confirmed the energy price guarantee would continue at its current rate, which limits a typical annual household bill to £2,500. It is being extended from April, when it was due to expire, for a further three months until the end of June.

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Budget pension shake-up is £4bn tax giveaway for wealthy, critics say

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Jeremy Hunt criticised for scrapping lifetime allowance and increasing annual contribution cap

The chancellor has been accused of unveiling a £4bn tax giveaway that will benefit the wealthiest people in the UK by dramatically increasing how much they can stash away in pensions while enjoying the full tax benefits.

Jeremy Hunt announced a major shake-up of the rules governing how much people can pay into their retirement pots, which will have no impact on the vast majority of the population but could lead to huge gains for the top few per cent of wealthy, older pension savers. Labour claimed it was a handout for “the richest 1%” and that someone with a £2m pension pot would pay up to £275,000 less in tax as a result.

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Hunt’s disability plans put 1m at risk of losing £350 a month, IFS says

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Charities and disability campaigners say chancellor’s proposals set out in his budget more ‘stick than carrot’

Up to 1 million people currently claiming incapacity benefits could lose hundreds of pounds a month as a result of plans outlined in the budget to push ahead with the “biggest reforms to the welfare system in a decade,” experts have said.

The warning came as ministers unveiled a range of measures to try to drive more people back into the workplace, including scrapping controversial “fit for work” tests for disabled claimants and stepping up the threat of benefit sanctions against part-time workers.

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Tories urge Jeremy Hunt to reverse army cuts in forthcoming budget

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Planned 4% reduction in troop numbers should be abandoned in light of Ukraine war, say MPs and officials

Senior Tories are calling on Jeremy Hunt to abandon further cuts to the army by raising defence funding at next month’s budget, amid growing unease at the state of Britain’s military capabilities.

The chancellor has been urged by MPs to ensure the number of troops is held at the current level of about 76,000, instead of reducing it to 73,000 by 2025.

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Raising council tax to fund social care will deepen inequality in UK, experts warn

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Jeremy Hunt’s plans criticised for delay to reform, shifting burden to local authorities and ‘skewing the system’

Jeremy Hunt’s decision to fund more social care through increases in council tax will deepen inequality and undermine the cause of “levelling up”, the architect of the government’s planned reforms said last night.

The criticism from Andrew Dilnot, the economist whose blueprint for reform was delayed by another two years in Hunt’s first budget on Thursday, was echoed by senior figures in local government who said it would leave poorer areas at a disadvantage and was not the answer to the social care crisis.

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Truss? Brexit? Covid? Who is really to blame for the Tories’ ‘fiscal hole’?

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The succession of PMs have all spoken out on who or what has caused the state of UK finances. They’re all partly right, but conveniently miss out one or two other key reasons

Covid-19 ripped a £400bn hole in the government’s finances. The money was used largely to support the economy and it succeeded in allowing industries and workers to bounce back once restrictions were lifted.

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Voters choose Sunak’s Tories over Labour to repair economy, new poll reveals

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Rishi Sunak’s arrival in Downing Street is already helping to repair the party’s reputation for financial management

Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have overturned Labour’s lead in terms of who voters trust most to manage the economy, a new poll for the Observer has revealed.

The new prime minister is currently drawing up tax rises and spending cuts designed to fill a £40bn fiscal hole left by Liz Truss’s disastrous time in Downing Street, with warnings that any significant attempt to cut Whitehall budgets will lead to huge pressure on public services. It comes with new analysis revealing that freezing public service spending would save £20bn but would also lead to a return to the austerity of the 2010s.

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Bank of England left in the dark ahead of new interest rate decision

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With fiscal statement deferred and mixed government messaging on tax and spending the BoE has little to go on

The Bank of England will next week consider how much to raise interest rates without having received any guidance from the government about its tax and spending policies, after Jeremy Hunt pushed back the date for this year’s “autumn statement”.

Its policymakers meet on 3 November to decide the increase in the cost of borrowing required to tackle a rate of inflation that climbed above 10% in September.

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Jeremy Hunt says difficult decisions ahead after Truss ‘mistakes’

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New chancellor vows to be ‘completely honest with country’ amid rumours PM has only weeks left in role

The new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has spoken of “mistakes” made by the Liz Truss administration and predicted “difficult decisions ahead”.

Appearing on Sky News on Saturday, in his first interview since replacing Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday, the former health secretary signalled he would have a “clean slate” when it came to the budget, and vowed to be “completely honest with the country” amid rumours that Truss has only weeks left as prime minister.

Hunt, who was parachuted into No 11 in an attempt to restore order to Truss’s ailing government, also suggested that some taxes could rise, as he promised to bring stability to the UK in the wake of the disastrous mini-budget.

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Mini-budget 2022: pound crashes as chancellor cuts stamp duty and top rate of income tax – live

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Tax cuts to cost Treasury around £37bn in 2023-24, official figures reveal

There are no urgent questions in the morning, and so Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor, will be delivering his statement soon after 9.30am.

The Commons starts sitting at 9.30am, but they always begin with prayers in private, and so Kwarteng will be up a few minutes later.

The last time they did it one third of the beneficiaries were people buying second homes or buy to let, so we are sceptical that this is the magic bullet to increase homeownership. What we really need to do is to build more houses and to help get people onto the property ladder by increasing the supply of housing.

When this has been done before, it has often fuelled an already hot market and many of the beneficiaries have been people buying a second or third home, rather than the first time buyers that we really want to help who are often trapped in private rented accommodation where they’re paying as much in rent every month as they would in a mortgage.

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Biggest interest rate rise for 25 years could spell showdown at the Bank

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This week’s decision could pit Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey against an expansionary PM and chancellor

A lightning strike from the Bank of England awaits. Having delayed its decision until after the period of national mourning for the death of the Queen, Threadneedle Street could this week launch the biggest rise in borrowing costs for at least 25 years.

Announcing its plans a day before Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget on Friday, the central bank is widely expected to use a fast and forceful rate increase to show its commitment to tackling soaring borrowing costs – despite the gathering storm clouds for the British economy.

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With Keir Starmer on holiday, Labour treads water on cost of living

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Analysis: Gordon Brown, Martin Lewis and Ed Davey are the voices being heard, as the opposition is left with the same policy as Sunak

Gordon Brown has thrown down the gauntlet with his plan to halt a winter energy crisis – but not just to the Tory leadership candidates. The call to revoke the energy price cap and consider nationalising energy firms will attract a lot of attention but fundamentally it is also a chance for Labour to choose to be radical. It is likely to compound calls from activists for the party to find a new sense of urgency.

In the middle of August, politicians can often afford to take long breaks away from Westminster to recharge – and sometimes get a valuable dose of perspective. But the extent to which politicians – including those in the Labour party – have gone missing this summer is particularly striking.

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Rishi Sunak tackled on LBC Radio by mother who cannot afford to heat home

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Chancellor faces warnings that he has not done enough to address biggest fall in living standards on record

Rishi Sunak has been tackled by a single mother who cannot afford to heat her home and has had to take on two extra jobs, as the chancellor faced warnings that he has not done enough to address the biggest fall in living standards on record.

He was challenged on LBC Radio by Hezel, a single mother, who said she had a good salary “on paper” but rising costs had put “an intense strain” on her ability to provide for her children.

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Treasury considers ways to ease cost of living in spring statement

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Reluctant to make big fiscal changes, chancellor Rishi Sunak considers tax adjustments and fuel duty cut

The Treasury has drawn up a range of options to help with the cost of living crisis – including a 1p cut to income tax, raising the national insurance threshold and a significant cut to fuel duty.

But government sources said Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, was still reluctant to make big fiscal changes.

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