October 27, 2021 - 4:30pm
The Chancellor turned up to the Commons today with his Red Box, from which he produced a remarkable innovation: a tax-cutting Budget without actual tax cuts.
Rishi Sunak admitted as much himself. Government spending and taxation were at very high levels because of the response to Covid. He didn’t like it, but he wouldn’t apologise for it. The tax burden would go down eventually, but not until the end of the current Parliament.
And yet Sunak ensured that his 2021 Budget would be remembered for tax cuts — or rather the impression of tax cuts. For instance, there’ll be lower duties on draught beer, fruit ciders and — in a concession to hun culture — sparkling wine. However, these were offset by increased rates on stronger drink.
Other ‘tax cuts’ were, in fact, the cancellation of previously planned tax rises — on fuel, for instance. The final flourish had been pre-announced: we were already expecting the Chancellor to cut the rate at which Universal Credit is withdrawn as people earn more. The traditional twist was that the cut was bigger than we’d been led to believe.
Strictly speaking, this wasn’t a tax cut either — and certainly not if one takes into account the end of the £20 boost to UC. The same goes for the increase in the National Living Wage, which is paid by employers, not the state.
However, Sunak did his best to position all these measures within a coherent philosophy. He stressed that Government cannot be the answer to every problem — the rest of us have to contribute to the recovery too. There’ll be cuts to benefits, but boosts to take-home pay. Corporation taxes are still heading up, but there’ll be more tax relief on investment. As for Air Passenger Duty, the burden will shift from domestic to long haul flights.
You could just make out what he was trying to do: gradually realign the policy framework in favour of things that most directly grow the British economy. But as for tax cuts, it was just more Rishi magic.
Peter Franklin is Associate Editor of UnHerd. He was previously a policy advisor and speechwriter on environmental and social issues.
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SubscribeI remember when my Oregonian friends would say “Keep Portland weird.” None of them live their now.
I remember when my Oregonian friends would say “Keep Portland weird.” None of them live their now.
And I though that Silicon valley was something that Trump buried his face in with Stormy Daniels?
And I though that Silicon valley was something that Trump buried his face in with Stormy Daniels?
Kathleen Stock is a Founding Faculty Fellow of the University of Austin, Texas and presumably spends some time there.
It’d be interesting to see an article by her on what she’s finding with regard to “Keep Austin Weird”.
Kathleen Stock is a Founding Faculty Fellow of the University of Austin, Texas and presumably spends some time there.
It’d be interesting to see an article by her on what she’s finding with regard to “Keep Austin Weird”.
Progress is a bulldozer! This has been happening from the very beginning. If you don’t want things to change, you have to make things difficult for new arrivals to arrive. Also, you need to allow people who are content to say, “thanks but no thanks, we are happy the way things are.”
There needs to be another article highlighting the same kind of change. Western Europe is very different from 20 plus years ago. It was not money that transformed it, but people. The far left is to blame for this as well. Left of centre is a nice way to be but stray a little bit further to the left and it is very destructive. Far more so than the far right.
Progress is a bulldozer! This has been happening from the very beginning. If you don’t want things to change, you have to make things difficult for new arrivals to arrive. Also, you need to allow people who are content to say, “thanks but no thanks, we are happy the way things are.”
There needs to be another article highlighting the same kind of change. Western Europe is very different from 20 plus years ago. It was not money that transformed it, but people. The far left is to blame for this as well. Left of centre is a nice way to be but stray a little bit further to the left and it is very destructive. Far more so than the far right.
Great informative article. Just shows how lucky we are to live near Europe.
Great informative article. Just shows how lucky we are to live near Europe.
While red states fret about the escapees from blue states arriving to bring destructive policy, seems they are rejecting them. Austin becoming near TX normal might be a good thing for all. But the past charm of Austin is likely to end.
While red states fret about the escapees from blue states arriving to bring destructive policy, seems they are rejecting them. Austin becoming near TX normal might be a good thing for all. But the past charm of Austin is likely to end.