Budget 2024: The Main Points
Jeremy Hunt has cut National Insurance by 2p as he laid out his plans for taxation and spending in the Spring Budget. The chancellor also announced he would be scrapping the non-dom tax status, which was previously one of Labour's key promises. Sir Keir Starmer branded the chancellor’s budget “the last desperate act of a party that has failed”. Report by Jonesia. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 An early morning run for the Chancellor and his dog Poppy ahead of his Budget statement
00:06 in the Commons.
00:07 Jeremy Hunt and the rest of Rishi Sunak's cabinet met in Downing Street this morning,
00:11 knowing this could be the Conservatives' last big chance to appease Tory voters ahead of
00:16 a general election.
00:17 Mr Cameron, has the Chancellor got this right? Will this win your party the election, Mr
00:22 Cameron?
00:23 At 10.45, Mr Hunt and his Treasury team emerged for the traditional red box moment.
00:29 Is this really a turning point, Chancellor?
00:32 A recent poll suggested Jeremy Hunt could become the first Chancellor in modern times
00:37 to lose his constituency seat, which is a target for the Lib Dems at the next general
00:42 election.
00:43 A Budget then which may have a bearing on whether he gets back into number 11.
00:51 Tax cuts in order to try and grow the economy would be the aim of the Chancellor's measures
00:55 announced today.
00:56 There were two big announcements. The first was the widely expected 2p cut to National
01:01 Insurance, meaning an additional saving of £450 per year for the average worker.
01:07 Because we have asked those with the broader shoulders to pay a bit more, today I go further.
01:13 From April 6th, employee National Insurance will be cut by another 2p from 10% to 8%.
01:22 And self-employed National Insurance will be cut from 8% to 6%.
01:29 The second came as something of a surprise, the abolition of the non-dom tax status, a
01:34 key policy for Labour and something that Mr Hunt said only a few months ago that he would
01:39 not scrap.
01:40 We can indeed introduce a system which is both fairer and remains competitive with other
01:46 countries. So the government will abolish the current tax system for non-doms, get rid
01:53 of the outdated concept of domicile and I aim to please all sides of the House in all
02:07 my budgets.
02:10 The move means that from April 2025 new arrivals to the UK will not pay tax on foreign income
02:15 and gains for the first four years of UK residency.
02:20 Other key announcements from today include the freeze on fuel duty for a further 12 months
02:24 and an extension of the alcohol duty freeze until February 2025.
02:29 There was welcome news too for small businesses as the VAT registration threshold is set to
02:34 increase from £85,000 to £90,000 on April 1st.
02:39 The windfall tax on oil and gas companies will be extended until 2029, which the Chancellor
02:44 says will raise £1.5 billion.
02:48 And the income level at which people start being charged for receiving child benefit
02:52 is to be increased from £50,000 to £60,000.
02:58 The Labour leader welcomed the cuts to national insurance and the abolition of the non-dom
03:02 tax status but otherwise berated a government which appears out of touch.
03:07 The Chancellor, who breezes into this Chamber in a recession and tells the working people
03:14 of this country that everything's on track.
03:18 Crisis?
03:19 What crisis?
03:20 Or, as the captain of the Titanic and the former Prime Minister herself might have said,
03:25 "iceberg?
03:26 What iceberg?"
03:27 Smiling as the ship goes down, the Chuckle Brothers of decline dreaming of Santa Monica
03:35 or maybe just a quiet life in Surrey, not having to self-fund his election.
03:40 Jeremy Hunt says the government more than met their pledge to halve inflation last year.
03:44 The SNP said this was nothing to boast about.
03:48 The Tory government was in charge when inflation was at 11%.
03:53 It is their child, this problem with inflation.
03:57 And they also suggest that somehow 4% is a triumph.
04:01 4% is still 4% inflation.
04:05 Inflation is still go up.
04:07 This is, let's face it, this is a last ditch, tone-deaf approach to desperately try to recover
04:12 in the polls.
04:13 It's the embodiment of the Tory party before the people.
04:17 Despite the Chancellor's tax cut announcements today, there was no mention of any change
04:21 in his plans for public spending.
04:23 Whoever's Chancellor after the next election is going to have a pretty tough time.
04:28 If they want to avoid cuts in public spending, they're probably going to have to raise taxes
04:32 or accept higher levels of borrowing.
04:34 That's kind of where we are after a long period of poor growth, cuts in public spending over
04:39 the 2010s and actually a record tax burden.
04:43 Put all those together, it's not going to be an easy inheritance.
04:46 Whether the Tories or Labour are the majority party after the upcoming election, the next
04:51 government faces uncomfortable economic decisions down the line.
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