You decide

So here are the facts:

In December the UK government borrowed £7.8 billion, less than expected but still a small fortune

In the financial year so far the Government has borrowed £119.1 billion, up £11.1 billion on last year.

So here is the question, how big a tax cut can the government afford?

The answer is obviously nothing, and if there is any spare cash the Chancellor might want to solve the crisis in the under funded NHS, or the £40 billion gap in the defence equipment budget, or pay councils enough so that they don’t go bust or a thousand other things.

But no, we will now have tax cuts. Unaffordable, cynical, and almost certainly not enough to reverse the tax rises already in the system.

But it is election year and the Tories are desperate. Desperate to spend all the money they can borrow so that Labour will inherit a wasteland and can be accused of threatening to break the bank.

Welcome to the British economy in 2024, there is going to be much, much more of this sort of stuff in the months ahead.

Jonty’s Jottings

Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.

By Jonty Bloom Media