A Very Brief Analysis of The Autumn Budget: What has it shown us?

 Firstly, here's a brief outline of what was announced today by Jeremy Hunt:

•  Over 23 minimum wage from £9.50 to £10.42 an hour
• State pension payments  increase by 10.1%, in line with inflation
• Top 45% additional rate of income tax  paid on earnings over £125,140, instead of £150,000
• Tax-free allowances for dividend and capital gains tax  to be cut
• Hike council tax up to 5% a year without a local vote, instead of 3% currently
• Bills capped at £3,000 a year instead of £2,500
• Windfall tax on profits of oil and gas firms increased from 25% to 35% and extended until March 2028
• New 45% tax on companies that generate electricity, to apply from January

Hunt said the UK was in recession and that the size of the economy will shrink by 1.4% in 2023, and it's expected that the number of unemployed will grow by, 500,000 despite Hunt describing his action as leading to a "shallower downturn" with fewer jobs lost. Energy and food bills have shot up due to the war in Ukraine and pandemic, and are squeezing household budgets, with the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies saying that the next 2 years will see the biggest fall in household incomes in generations.

By Jake Landsberg