A DISTINCTLY odd, almost surreal atmosphere surrounds the advent of Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Budget this afternoon. With Brexit’s imminence providing so many unknowns and variables, Mr Hammond has hinted that, in the event of a no-deal departure, he may have to rip up his entire economic plan and start again.
Indeed, Brexit has given Mr Hammond an excuse to be even more cautious than usual, downplaying any notion that Prime Minister Theresa May’s “end to austerity” was anything other than a throwaway remark. There will, of course, be announcements of funding.
In particular, attention will focus on how much will be provided to ease the hitherto horrendous transition to Universal Credit. Even Conservative MPs have lobbied the Chancellor on this, indicating that a significant sum will be released, perhaps even the £2 billion needed, according to the scheme’s architect, Iain Duncan Smith.
Also trailed have been business rates relief for small retailers, and an investment in roads, including £420 million to fill up potholes in England, while, across the UK, superfast broadband for rural areas has been promised. Adding to the air of peculiarity surrounding this Budget has been the claim that much of its available monies has come from a statistical anomaly that reduced public borrowing estimates by £13bn.
Even so, Mr Hammond has indicated that any substantial contribution to ending austerity will be held back until next year’s spending review. Brexit, it seems, means that announcing spending plans this afternoon will be like putting out napkins when there is no guarantee of food.
The SNP’s take is that the Chancellor has been “blindfolded” by Brexit, though there are still hopes north of the Border for extra funds, which the Scottish Conservatives, in another unusual development, want spent on health and social care. All budgets engender hope, but the hopelessness many feel about Brexit make this one, the last in 45 years of European Union membership, a very strange event indeed.
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