Spring Budget - Barret Kupelian video transcript

The choreography has been seen a hundred times before - a packed House of Commons, an air of anticipation, and the Chancellor stepping up to the podium, but with a General Election looming, the Chancellor is keen to portray a picture of economic recovery and resilience. 

Jeremy Hunt unveiled a range of measures that will impact your wallets, your businesses, and our collective future. In this video we’ll unpick some of the key announcements.

We'll make sure you understand every key announcement, from tax changes to investment plans and what that means for you and the economy both in the short term and the long term. 

Stay tuned, because we've got a lot to discuss! So we had the choreography. We had the flourish. But did we really get the substance to match this? Not really. There were no surprises, no rabbits out of the hat. What we had was Westminster’s worst kept secret – a 2 per cent reduction in national insurance contributions. 

Yes there were some revenue raising measures to balance the cut against National Insurance Contributions. They include a rise in tobacco duty, an end to non-dom status and an extension of energy levy. But when we match what was given with one hand and taken away with the other, the fiscal headroom is severely limited.

This leaves the Chancellor in danger of breaking his own fiscal rules, particularly with the potential of further give-aways as we head into an election later this year. Overall, working people, parents, pub goers, real estate agents and Keira Knightley were the biggest winners from this Budget.

Smokers, non-domiciled Individuals, air travellers and unprotected government departments were the  biggest  losers. Ultimately, the announcements made today will not shift the dial for the UK economy.  Tax levels as a proportion of the economy will continue to rise. Government spending levels will continue to remain tight.

We will be discussing these points at our webcast tomorrow. I hope you can join us by signing up at the link below.