Budget 2021: What time is Rishi Sunak delivering the Budget today?
THE BUDGET is just around the corner as Chancellor Rishi Sunak will deliver an update on the nation's finances and what to expect in the coming months. But what time is Rishi Sunak announcing the Budget today?
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The Budget, or Financial Statement, is an announcement made to the House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on finances and the Government’s proposals for changes to taxation and other economic measures. The Budget also includes forecasts for the economy by the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR). Another year has passed since the last Budget, in which Rishi Sunak announced unprecedented support measures for the coronavirus pandemic.
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The Government has borrowed a record £270billion so far fighting the pandemic and, of course, will have to find a way of paying back the debt.
But aside from that, the Government also needs to continue supporting the millions of people out of work or on furlough due to the ongoing lockdown restrictions.
Ahead of the speech, Mr Sunak has promised more money for the vaccination rollout; a £55billion scheme to help High Street businesses reopen, and a mortgage guarantee scheme to help first-time buyers.
But he has also warned of tough economic times ahead and there are reports he plans to raise some taxes.
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The Chancellor has said he will use the Budget to “level” with the public about the challenges facing the economy and the need to pay back vast sums of borrowed billions.
According to reports, Mr Sunak is likely to announce some tax hikes – although whatever he does do will have to fit in with Conservative party manifesto pledges not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT.
Some speculate he will instead raise corporation tax from its current level of 19 percent to 23 percent.
There are also reports he will freeze the personal income tax allowance, which usually rises in line with inflation, pushing many taxpayers into higher tax brackets and raking in about £6billion for HMRC.
Conservative backbenchers are strongly opposed to tax rises, while the Labour leader Keir Starmer has warned they risk “choking off” a quick economic recovery.
What time is Rishi Sunak delivering the Budget?
The Chancellor will stand up in the House of Commons and deliver his Budget at 12.30pm on Wednesday, March 3.
The Budget is expected to cover a number of things, but one of the main focuses is expected to be job support as four million workers are still on furlough.
The Chancellor has already said he is “preparing a Budget that provides support for people” as unemployment hovers at a five-year high.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng let slip that the furlough scheme would continue “while lockdown persists”.
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Reports have since confirmed the furlough scheme will be extended until the end of September.
That is just more than one week after the earliest possible date for lockdown restrictions to be lifted, on June 21.
Mr Sunak is tipped to provide further support to the less fortunate in the form of a six-month extension to the £20 Universal Credit uplift after intense pressure from backbenchers and charities.
Some want him to go one step further and make the uplift a permanent fixture of the benefit, but the Chancellor will likely resist as the Treasury tries to claw back every pound and penny.
In what will likely be the biggest change, Mr Sunak is understood to be setting out his vision for a post-Covid economy, which could mean more money for “levelling up” different regions of Britain.
The Chancellor will reportedly announce the locations of Freeports, which are special economic zones with low taxes that would help stimulate growth on a regional level.
The Green scheme is high on the Government’s minds as climate change implications are at the forefront of global concern, so it’s likely he will announce more funding to help the UK meet its decarbonisation goal, which is to be net-zero by 2050.
Measures to promote more environmentally friendly homes and renewable energy are a plausible scenario, but he’s not expected to raise fuel duty.
