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 ...

Subscribe to The Mace

Join the member community shaping British politics and stay ahead of what's really happening in the world of politics and public affairs, with expert analysis, breaking news, and insider insights from Westminster and Brussels. The Mace is the leading news source and resource for the government affairs industry, offering required reading and lobby intelligence for professionals.

To see what you are missing out on by not subscribing to The Mace, click here to download our full membership info-pack. This includes having no paywall on op-ed content or profiles/interviews, allowing professional profiles to be read with maximum impact and visibility by government, special advisers, MPs, peers, civil servants, and policy and political decision-makers.

Leader in UK Public Affairs: Dr Michelle Howard, Senior Advisor for Defence and Space, Lexington Communications: “The future of public affairs is full of promise for the creative”

Mace | September 16, 2026

Lexington’s Michelle Howard explains how an unconventional career spanning opera, journalism, hydropower and defence led her into public affairs, why political instability rewards creativity and listening, and what