Budget: The Four Hundred Billion Pound Man

Business was taken aback when Rishi Sunak raised its tax bill in this week’s Budget – but the sums Sunak is dealing with are eyewatering. Is there enough in his plans for tapered support and delayed tax to stimulate a post-COVID recovery? Will a country that’s been sold on “levelling up” accept higher taxes by stealth and lowered living standards? Plus: what on earth is going on with Sturgeon vs Salmond – and how could it affect Scotland’s political future?

This week’s special guests are Torcuil Crichton, political editor of the Daily Record, and IfG Fellow and former advisor to Tony Blair John McTernan. 

• “It’s very clear that the Government are going to use the pork barrel. You can see the lineaments of Populist government” – John McTernan
• “That was the emptiest budget box to come to Parliament in a long time, and Starmer was quite good at laying out what wasn’t there.” – Torcuil Crichton
• “The Government seems to believe the economy has been suppressed and will come roaring back of its own accord” – John McTernan

Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Gemma Tetlow and Akash Paun. Audio production by Alex Rees

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