After a bad time of it, what with rumours of plots and a seemingly rudderless approach to state finances, bar the preservation of the wealthy, by this government's standards the budget Rachel Reeves delivered on Wednesday was a good one. Obviously not for those of us who want to see huge inroads made into wealth, or the crisis in underfunded public services and state institutions addressed with the seriousness their decrepit conditions warrant. But a good budget for warding off a leadership challenge. A mix of mild but welcome social democratic measures, above all the well-received abolition of the two-child benefit cap, helps ensure that Reeves and Keir Starmer can have a relaxing Christmas knowing their Waterloo has definitively been postponed until after next May's local elections.
As for the rest of the budget, I'm content to let Owen Jones and James Meadway do the heavy lifting on what the rest of it means.
With the freeze on the tax rate bands (especially the lower limit of £12,570) eventually the state pension will exceed this limit and Reeves will not only be known as the Chancellor that took away the pensioner Winter Fuel Allowance, but also the first chancellor that taxed the state pension. A political mistake she and the this Labour government will not be allowed to forget for years if not decades (Byrnes jolly little note springs to mind, although these two political missteps are exponentially worse).
There's nothing in here to address stagnant productivity, it's just trying to raise the current burden on the productive a little bit to maintain subsidies demanded for the unproductive, without doing anything too silly to speed up the doom loop.
3 comments:
Fine for the very short term but no long term solutions.
With the freeze on the tax rate bands (especially the lower limit of £12,570) eventually the state pension will exceed this limit and Reeves will not only be known as the Chancellor that took away the pensioner Winter Fuel Allowance, but also the first chancellor that taxed the state pension. A political mistake she and the this Labour government will not be allowed to forget for years if not decades (Byrnes jolly little note springs to mind, although these two political missteps are exponentially worse).
There's nothing in here to address stagnant productivity, it's just trying to raise the current burden on the productive a little bit to maintain subsidies demanded for the unproductive, without doing anything too silly to speed up the doom loop.
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