Political opinion with Andrew Griffith MP: The Budget was a missed opportunity

Perhaps the best that could be said from last week’s budget was that it could have been worse, or - like the previous two - it could have done more harm. Instead, the verdict from most commentators was that it was a missed opportunity. Even the left-leaning Resolution Foundation described it as a '“scattergun Budget that did little to address the sharp challenges facing Britain”.

Taxes are up, spending is up, welfare is up, borrowing is up, but none of the big challenges were meaningfully addressed. Next year, Britain will face the highest tax burden in our history. Our national debt has passed the equivalent of more than £100,000 for every household in the country. And the government’s annual debt interest now costs more than the schools budget and our army combined.

In my view, the worst of the Chancellor’s sins is that he failed his own test to fund defence. When he resigned as Defence Secretary he said: “Three per cent of GDP on defence is what Britain must set.” And yet, given the chance in this Budget to finally set things right, he failed to set out the funding to get us there. Instead, our Armed Forces are told to wait for another spending review sometime in 2027. As Paul Johnson, formerly of the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies, said: “Healey got his can and gave it an almighty kick down the road.”  Well, the threats from Russia and Iran are not down the road, they are at our doorstep. We live in dangerous times.

Locally, our small businesses, pubs and high streets are suffering, so I was disappointed with the absence of support to help young people get into work and the very modest changes to business rates relief. There was also no reversal of the family farm and family business ‘death tax’. The British Retail Consortium said, “No breathing space for retail as Budget keeps costs climbing”.

Other budget measures I am worried about were the fact that the government has introduced higher income tax rates on savings and rental income (by a total of 4% extra) and is continuing with its ‘Mansion Tax’ that will see higher value properties in West Sussex pay up to an additional £7,500 every year.