Rishi Sunak can play it safe or do the right thing

Eliot Wilson | 1st March 2021 | Uncategorised

Official parliamentary portrait of Rishi Sunak. Chris McAndrew

The Chancellor must make this an economic budget, not a political one, argues Eliot Wilson

This Wednesday is Rishi Sunak’s second budget, and the circumstances under which he will deliver it could not be more different from a year ago. Then, he was only weeks into the job of chancellor after the surprise departure of Sajid Javid, and lockdown was a buzzword for the future. Now, there is a feeling that the decisions he announces will be critical to the future direction of the economy and to how the UK makes its way out of its Covid-induced slump. Budgets are traditionally closely guarded, but nothing is really secret now, and its provisions, or possible provisions, have been heavily trailed in the media. One target is likely to be pensions: the chancellor is expected to freeze the lifetime allowance, which dictates how much money you can save before incurring tax, at £1 million. As a headline figure, it seems generous, but this will move something like 10,000 savers into a position in which they are liable for more tax. It will be portrayed, gently but insistently, as asking ...

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