British Budget April 2009

April 2009 because I'm confident there'll be another budget later in the year !

The Chancellor's still on his feet in the House of Commons

Quick summary so far ....

Chancellor states the mistakes of the 1920's and 1930's will not be repeated
Expects British economy to pick up later this year
World economy expected to contract this year, first time since WWII
British economy to contract by 3.5% this year, to grow by 1.25% next
£1.7 bn extra to Jobcentre Plus, to extend New Deal employment programme
£260 million for training
Stamp duty holiday extended to the end of the year
£2,000 discount on a new car when a car 10 y/o or more is traded in for scrap

Government borrowing this year £175 billion, 12.4% of GDP

£500 million to construction firms for new build housing

More to follow. Budget links ...

BBC coverage
Telegraph
Guardian
Mail
Independent
Sky News
Scotsman
Reuters
Bloomberg

[edit on 22/4/2009 by The Lass]

British budget deficit expected to halve over next 4 years
Pensions tax relief to be curtailed for those earning more than £100,000 pa
50% tax band from April 2010 for those earning £150,000 or more pa
UK CO2 emissions to be cut by 34% by 2020

And that's about it. Can't see anything said about increases in fuel, tobacco and alcohol taxes

David Cameron's (opposition leader) is on his feet .... reckons British borrowing is over £600 billion over the next 4 years.

Quick thoughts ... government is looking to the general election next year rather than tackling the fundamental debt problems that face the UK. It's just a borrow, borrow & borrow again budget & damn the consequences.

reply to post by The Lass


Can't beleive i'm going to have to pay 50% tax.... (wishful thinking)

Not much I can see in the budget of use to the little guy. Even the 10year old car scrappage is only going to help those who can afford a brand new car! If they can managed to secure the finance!!

Not really an environmentally friendly policy to be honest. Also going to push the price of second hand cars upwards and again hurt the pockets of the poorest.

I'm not a big fan of David Cameron (or Gordon Brown for that matter) but he completely owned the PM in his reaction to the budget speech, GB did his best to laugh it off as did Mr Darling, for the best part of it, but both looked like they had the smiles pretty much wiped off their faces by the time he had concluded.

Credit where credit's due.

Well done Mister Cameron (never thought I'd type that)

Regards

Berth

reply to post by The Lass


I'm So very unimpressed . So let me get this right. They want to tax us more but cut spending in the public services they provide. So if things are so tight why can afford or warrant spending 9 billion of our taxes on hosting the olympics - Priorities eh?



Snippet of news article from March:

The bill for the 2012 Olympics could exceed £9 billion, the Government admitted today, three times what it originally estimated.

In a much-delayed announcement because of disagreements in Whitehall over which departments will foot the rising costs, the Culture Secretary and Olympics Minister, Tessa Jowell, told the House of Commons that the complete cost of preparing London for the games could reach £9.3 billion.

To contend with the increasing costs, the National Lottery, which is already providing £1.5 billion towards the event, will be raided for a further £675 million. Central Government provision will rise to £6 billion.

The budget includes £3.1 billion for the building of the Olympic park and relevant infrastructure in Stratford, East London — up £800 million from the Government's early estimates — £1.7 billion in regeneration costs and a £2.7 billion contingency fund, which will be made available if costs increase further.

www.timesonline.co.uk...

Originally posted by The LassQuick thoughts ... government is looking to the general election next year rather than tackling the fundamental debt problems that face the UK. It's just a borrow, borrow & borrow again budget & damn the consequences.

I'm waiting for someone to announce the ATS party




[edit on 24-4-2009 by MCoG1980]

[edit on 24-4-2009 by MCoG1980]