We have had weeks of speculation before at last the Chancellor has delivered her Budget. Whatever your political affiliation, credit must be given to the first-ever female chancellor for a very polished performance.
It was always going to be the case that tax would be increased. Likewise it was certain that the opposition would shout “I told you so”. What made this particular Budget seem based on facts rather than fanciful economic thinking was that she was able to quote directly from the report by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
It has long been a traditional ploy of chancellors to surprise the House with policy statements that they were not expecting. There was the widely held view that tax thresholds would change and that the fuel duty would also suffer and increase. Neither of these two measures was introduced.
The opposition response was to list those things that were to be increased. It is to be recognised that if you want public services to improve you have got to find the money to pay for them. You cannot just keeping borrowing money for day to day expenditure. Nobody wants to pay any more tax than necessary.
One penny of a pint of draught beer was greeted with loud cheers but is in fact small beer compared with the scale of the increase in the tax take of £40 billion. It remains to be seen if this Budget will bring about economic stability and growth that the country needs. Minimum wage rises against increased employer national insurance contributions will be a challenge for many businesses.
Holding the Government to account is the job of the opposition. The difficulty for the Conservative Party is that there is overwhelming evidence that the economy was left in a poor state. The £22 billion black hole claimed by the Labour Party would appear to have been a true reflection of the state of the economy.
What we all want to know is exactly how this statement will affect our lives. When will we see the impact of the money earmarked for the NHS and schools showing real results?
The Budget speech always talks in huge numbers which mean nothing to most of us. Looking at my daily paper it showed that the difference to my monthly income and expenditure would be zero. That non-dom status has been abolished is something long overdue. If you live here you must pay your share.
Budget delivery will always divide opinion. There will always be winners and losers. There will never be a time when we are all happy with the measures introduced. The economy is in a poor state of health, needing time to recover. At least as the Budget is discussed in the pub the drinkers can enjoy a penny off their pint. After a good night out sinking three draught pints they will be able to benefit with a saving of three pence. As Del Boy said on Only Fools and Horses, ‘This time next year, we will all be millionaires, Rodney’.