Autumn Statement 2023 live: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt cuts National Insurance and announces overhaul of benefits
Jeremy Hunt has delivered his Autumn Statement, where he has cut tax for business, abolished national insurance for the self-employed, and reformed benefits so claimants face sanctions if they choose not to work.
The Chancellor also unveiled downgraded forecasts for growth.
Jeremy Hunt will deliver his Autumn Statement today, and does so under huge pressure from Tory MPs to announce tax cuts. The Chancellor is expected to cut National Insurance for 28 million people, as well as reform benefits so claimants face sanctions if they choose not to work.
He said what?
Tory Deputy Chair Lee Anderson has suggested that following the failure of the Rwanda scheme, asylum seekers should be sent to Orkney for processing instead.
Initially I thought this was a joke but apparently he actually said it. Deputy chair of the party of government.
Honestly.
What about Scotland?
Scotland gets an additional £545 million in Barnett Consequentials for the Scottish Government, on top of the record block grant, while the Chancellor also confirmed more than £200 million of direct investment.
Knowledge is dour
Today's tax cuts will not prevent this from being the biggest tax raising Parliament in recent times, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said.
Paul Johnson, the think tank’s director, said: “The public finances haven’t meaningfully improved. The growth outlook has weakened. Inflation is expected to stay higher for longer. Higher inflation pushes up tax receipts by more than it pushes up spending on debt interest or social security benefits.
“But rather than use the proceeds to ease the ongoing ‘fiscal drag’ effects of threshold freezes, or to compensate public services for higher costs, the Chancellor opted to cut other taxes – most notably national insurance and corporation tax.
“These tax cuts won’t be enough to prevent this from being the biggest tax raising Parliament in modern times.”
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