Today, the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, delivered the most shambolic Budget in British history.
Weeks of leaks had already removed any element of surprise from today’s announcements.
Every newspaper, website and gossip column had already told us what was coming.
Every form of tax rise seems to have been suggested by the Treasury in the run-up to the Budget.
So many policy kites were playing that their strings entangled one another, so the St James Park was hardly safe for the pelicans.
Was income tax going to rise, or mansion tax and exit tax for non-doms? A sugar tax and electric car tax?
More fuel duty, changes to inheritance tax and increasing capital gains tax proposals veritably flew out of the mouths of gossiping Downing Street insiders, creating uncertainty and subduing economic activity.
Yet the worst league was on Budget day itself in a contemptible disregard for Parliament and procedure.
The GB News presenter shared his opinion on Rachel Reeves’ Budget
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GB NEWS
At midday, we witnessed the biggest blunder of all.
The Office for Budget Responsibility, the irresponsible office for Budget Responsibility, published its economic and fiscal outlook half an hour before the Chancellor’s statement, revealing detailed forecasts and the budget’s fiscal measures, prompting widespread coverage and an immediate apology.
Within minutes of the OBR’s mistake, live news outlets reported the leaked budget, including frozen personal tax thresholds to 2030/31.
A cash Isa cut, the mansion tax changes, the two-child benefit cap being removed and new changes to taxes on savings, pensions and gambling.
The Office for Budget Responsibility prematurely published its response to the Budget
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PA
This led to immediate reactions from markets and MPs during Prime Minister’s Questions before the Chancellor’s speech.
Here is Kemi Badenoch’s inspired response.
Mrs Badenoch told the Commons: “An unprecedented leak of the OBR analysis. Mr Speaker, these leaks have been so serious that even the former chief economist of the Bank of England has said ‘that Labour’s fiscal fandango is the single biggest reason why growth has flatlined’.”
The fangdango! Anyway, the body founded to provide impartial fiscal analysis, incompetently revealed the Government’s plans before the Chancellor could tell the House of Commons, the chairman of the OBR, Richard Hughes, should clearly do the right thing and resign.
It’s an indefensible mistake for which somebody ought to take responsibility and the buck should surely stop with him.
It’s worth remembering that uncontrolled economic announcements have real effect on markets, on currency values and on interest rates.
So today we saw in glorious technicolour that the people responsible for managing the nation’s finances, the party that promised fiscal competence and sensible policies, could not even manage the release of its own Budget.
It’s a Government of leaks, internal fighting, public blunders and high taxation. The Government for the skivers against the strivers. It’s ruining the nation’s economy.