‘Jeremy Hunt’s mini-Budget was like the tax part of the Corbyn manifesto with none of the benefits of the extra spending.’ That was This is Money editor Simon Lambert’s verdict on the Chancellor’s tax-hiking spree that painted a miserable picture of the years ahead, hit higher earners, and hammered small investors. In a blizzard of hikes – through threshold drops and stealth tax freezes – Hunt worked his way through a painful Autumn Statement, where good news was thin on the ground. The silver linings came from the government sticking by the pension triple lock and uprating benefits by inflation but the focus was on painful years ahead. Was this the right move? Why did Hunt feel the need to inflict tax pain – and spending cuts later on? How did we go from Rishi Sunak as Chancellor with a margin to hit his fiscal rules to Rishi as Prime Minister with a fiscal black hole? Georgie Frost and Simon discuss these questions and more and look at what the Autumn Statement means for people’ finances:
How much more tax will you pay?
How much will your energy bills rise by?
Who came out best and who came out worst?
And can Simon come up with a note of optimism to end the show on?
— listen to this Autumn Statement tax raid special to find out.
