Hammond presents a budget of tax cuts and expenses to support May | News from the United Kingdom

Philip Hammond said on Monday that "austerity was coming to an end", as he sought to rebadure voters and boost the morale of conservative dispossessed deputies, Theresa May, had to back up her agreement on Brexit staking his budget speech with promises of spending. and a surprise reduction in income tax.

As negotiations with the EU27 enter their frantic last weeks, the Chancellor abandons his invaluable reputation and chooses to spend almost all of the £ 68 billion sold by the independent to over the next five years. Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). & # 39;

"Austerity is coming to an end, but discipline will remain. That's the clear dividing line in British politics today, "he told MPs, repeatedly stressing that Britain was" at a turning point in our country's recovery. " "

In a surprisingly generous package, an additional £ 15 billion will be injected into the country." Next year, Hammond responded to requests from his colleagues to mitigate the impact of universal credit, with an annual increase of £ 1,000 in the work allowance that applicants can earn before their benefits are recovered.

He announced a series of other short-term contracts. in the long run, ranging from defense spending to potholes, avoiding fiscal measures, such as pension raids, which could compromise the government's lack of a guaranteed majority.

One from rare to ge These measures involved a £ 400 million a year tax on large technology companies, such as Google, Facebook and eBay. Hammond said that the UK was tired of waiting for an international agreement to target the tech giants and that he was ready to go alone.

Hammond also confirmed that he was going to present to 2019 the overt commitment of the Conservatives to increase personal income tax allowance. at £ 12,500 and the threshold raised to £ 50,000, granting an income tax reduction of up to £ 860 to senior officials.

The Chancellor had no choice but to loosen the purse strings after Theresa May promised to end her life. his party's conference speech delivered earlier this month in order to show his government that he has a political agenda beyond Brexit.

The OBR stated that the Chancellor could have used the unexpected bonus of borrowing much lower than expected to achieve his goal of handing over British finances in the dark of the mid-2020s. Instead, the independent watchdog noted that Hammond had spent "unexpected profits instead of saving him" in the biggest easing of his fiscal policy since then. it was created by George Osborne eight years ago.

However, Jeremy Corbyn, accused of responding to Hammond's optimistic speech of "broken promises".

"What we have heard today are half-measures and quick fixes, while austerity continues to rage. And far from the fact that the hard work and sacrifices of the population have borne fruit, as the Chancellor claims, this government has wasted it in ideological tax cuts for the richest in our society ", he said.

A full departmental review of expenditures is to be done next year.The Whitehall departments could expect their budgets to increase on average by 1.2% per year in during a five-year review of the expenditure period.

In a speech that makes little reference to the potential economic risks of a Brexit without a transaction Hammond stated that the expenditure review could potentially be more generous if the process EU exit was proceeding smoothly

"This is not the limit of my ambitions.When our negotiations with the EU will result in an agreement, as I am confident, j e The "dividend of the agreement" will allow us to provide additional funding for the review of expenditures. The hard work of the British people is paying off, "he said.

The official spokesman for the prime minister insisted that all promises of spending made on Monday would be honored regardless of the outcome "All the spending commitments announced today by the Chancellor are funded, regardless of the agreement signed," he said.

However, a Treasury spokesman pointed out after the Chancellor's speech that a 1.2% annual growth for the Whitehall Departments was a "forecast" and once the NHS boost was included, it implied that spending elsewhere would be roughly equal in real terms

Torsten Bell, director of the resolution, said: "In today's budget, the Chancellor has eased considerably – without putting an end to austerity – public services.

"The Chancellor announced her intention to spend almost all of a very significant budgetary manna in additional spending for the NHS, thus ending the era of lower spending on public services. But the unprotected departments are still on the path of spending cuts in the 2020s – an average of 3% between 2019 and 2023. "

George Osborne's liquidity freeze on working-age benefits no longer exists. has not stopped either. reduce the welfare bill as a result of the 2015 general election.

The OBR said that the outlook for the economy had changed little since its last report in the spring, although He has raised his growth forecasts for 2019 and 2020: result of Hammond's budget package.

He added that the overall goal was stable but unusual growth of about 1.5% for the next five years, on the badumption that Britain would withdraw from the United States. European Union in a harmonious way. [19659002] Hammond's speech to "wrestlers and clerks" implied an announcement that the government would consult on future increases in the minimum living wage (NLW) after inflation, after it reached 8 , £ 21 the hour next spring. The OBR stated that it was likely to lose jobs if the NLW were raised to two-thirds of the national median.

TUC Secretary General, Frances O. Grady, said, "We can not fend off workers with promises of a better future that never comes. The budget does not defeat the austerity that has devastated public services. And it lacks the investment needed to accelerate wage growth after the longest wage compression in 200 years. "

The uncertainty surrounding Brexit stifling business investment, Adam Marshall, chief executive of the British Chambers of Commerce, applauded the decision to increase the annual investment allowance of £ 200,000 to £ 1 million for the next two years.

"In an atmosphere of unprecedented uncertainty and increased political noise, the Chancellor has shown he is attentive to the concerns of business by presenting a suitable budget. to growth. "