Today was the first Conservative budget in 18 years.
Here are some of the key announcements;
Growing the economy and getting the national finances under control with the national debt falling. So the the UK has a balanced plan to finish the job on the deficit and run a surplus – so our country lives within its means and we’re better prepared for whatever storms lie ahead.
Supporting working people with lower taxes. From next year the personal allowance will £11,000 before paying any income tax, so will boost the average taxpayers’ wages by £80 and taking 570,000 people out of tax all together. The 40p starting rate will be raised to £43,000, lifting 130,000 people out of this higher tax rate.
Cutting tax on business by reducing Corporation Tax to 18 per cent. The UK already has the lowest rate in the G20. Making us an attractive place to invest – creating jobs and business growth. The additional reduction will send out the message loud and clear that Britain is open for business.
Higher pay with a new National Living Wage. One of the most significant and landmark announcements is to introduce a new National Living Wage for all working people aged 25 and over. It will start next April at £7.20 an hour with a target to reach over £9 by 2020. It will mean two and a half million people get a direct pay rise. Those currently on the minimum wage will see their pay rise by over a third this Parliament, a cash increase for a full time worker of over £5,000. The Employment Allowance is being increased by 50 per cent so a firm will be able to employ four people full time on the new National Living Wage and pay no national insurance at all.
Taking the family home out of inheritance tax. Today there are more families pulled into the inheritance tax net than ever before. Our new residential allowance will mean you can pass up to £1 million on to your children inheritance tax free.
Strengthening the nation’s defences. The NATO pledge to spend 2 per cent of our national income on defence will be met – not just this year, but every year of this decade.
Putting welfare spending on a sustainable footing. Britain is home to 1 per cent of the world’s population; generates 4 per cent of the world’s economy; and yet pays out 7 per cent of all the welfare spending. Benefits will be capped at £23,000 in London and £20,000 outside London.
Tackling tax avoidance, evasion and aggressive tax planning. The package of measures put together finds the further £5 billion promised at the election and also tackling fundamental unfairness in the non-dom regime by abolishing the permanent non-dom tax status.
Improving the productivity of our economy. New Roads Fund – from the end of this decade, every single penny raised in Vehicle Excise Duty in England will go into that Fund to pay for the sustained investment our roads so badly need. This, alongside other measures to cut taxes for business, including an increased permanent Annual Investment Allowance at £200,000, will support business to invest and create more jobs.
The chancellor has said, “This Budget keeps us moving from a low wage, high tax, high welfare economy to a higher wage, lower tax and lower welfare society. It puts security first. The economic security of a country that lives within its means. The financial security of lower taxes and a new National Living Wage. The national security of a country that defends itself and its values. It is a big Budget for a country with big ambition”.
Delighted to be able to say that I graduated from Anglia Ruskin University with a Bachelor of
