Billions more cut from benefits bill
Robert Chote has been appointed to head the Office of Budget Responsibility – as it appears that £4bn more will be cut off the benefits bill than expected, writes Faisal Islam.
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The collapse in economic output could mean the government has to borrow a startling £372 billion pounds this year.
IFS director Robert Chote is set to become the new head of the government’s tax and spending watchdog in a “brave move” for the chancellor, writes Economics Editor Faisal Islam.
As the budget reveals winners and losers, Jon Snow talks to Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the treasury, and Robert Chote, chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
Robert Chote has been appointed to head the Office of Budget Responsibility – as it appears that £4bn more will be cut off the benefits bill than expected, writes Faisal Islam.
“The deficit is down by four-fifths” This is similar to a claim Theresa May made in 2017, when she said that since the Conservatives took office in 2010, “the deficit [had] fallen by three quarters as a share of GDP.” In her speech this week, the Prime Minister wasn’t quite so specific, but we’ll assume…
The struggling families at the heart of Theresa May’s mission statement got very little out of today. The revolution has been postponed.
Twenty-five hours of free childcare funded by the state. Labour is promising to help working families beat the cost of living crisis – with a higher tax on banks to pay for it.
The spending round contained some surprises and innovations, Economics Editor Faisal Islam reports.
In his fourth budget, Chancellor George Osborne says growth will be lower than previously forecast, but Britain will avoid a triple-dip recession.
It could have been a lot worse for George Osborne in the autumn statement, as Britain faces losing its coveted triple-AAA credit status.
Estimates used by Chancellor George Osborne to justify axing the 50p top tax rate are “highly uncertain”, an influential group of MPs has warned.
The fact remains that the decision on the 50p rate was made on the basis of one year’s highly distorted data. In some ways it was set up to fail. Many economists will argue that it was always going to.
In the weeks before the budget, the debate focused on one issue. If the government cut the 50p tax rate, as they had threatened, would the budget end up being dismissed as a giveaway for the rich?
Faisal’s done the maths: George Osborne can’t justify his claim that the 50p tax rate isn’t generating money.
Boris Johnson today called Sir Michael Scholar, the Chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, a “Labour stooge”. Last month Scholar, who runs the government’s watchdog on the integrity of official statistics, accused the Mayor of London of giving misleading figures to the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee. Poor Sir Michael. He would actually…