The Budget basics 2008
So here’s what the budget really means for you and me, enjoy!
Alcohol and cigarettes - Cigarettes up £0.11 a packet of 20 from 18:00 tonight. 5 cigars up £0.04. Beer up by £0.04 a pint, wine £0.14 a bottle, spirits £0.55 a bottle and cider £0.03 a litre by Sunday. duites on alcohol will go up by 2 per cent above inflation for next four years.
Drivers, cars and fuel - From 2009, major reform of the vehicle excise duty. For new cars from 2010, the lowest-polluting cars will pay no road tax in the first year. Higher-polluting cars will pay more. Funding set aside for road-pricing proposals. The proposed 2p increase in fuel duty is postponed until October this year. Fuel duty will rise by 0.5p per litre in real terms in 2010.
Housing - From April, key workers like teachers and nurses, will be able to borrow money from shared equity schemes. Stamp duty on shared ownership homes will not be required until people own 80 per cent of their home. More people should have the chance to have a long-term fixed mortgage, which a report shows can reduce the risks for first-time buyers and can keep them on the housing ladder. New sites for 70,000 more houses have been identified.
Pensioners - Winter fuel allowance will go up from £200 to £250 for the over 60’s and from £300 to £400 for the over 80’s.
Benefits - From October 2009, rules for housing and council tax benefit will mean families on benefit are better off in work. From April, 2009 a href=”http://www.thefinancialblog.co.uk/click.php?kw=child%20benefit” mce_href=”http://www.thefinancialblog.co.uk/click.php?kw=child%20benefit”>child benefitwill be increased to £20 a week. From April 2010 all long-term recipients of incapacity benefit will attend work capacity programmes.
Businesses - £60 million over three years will be made available for equipping people to return to the workplace. Corporation tax will fall from 30 per cent to 28 per cent by April 2008, with simpler taxes for small companies. There will be more help for small businesses, with capital gains tax remaining at 10 per cent. Funds available through the small firms loans guarantee will increase by 60 per cent in the next year. There will be a capital fund of £12.5 million to encourage more women entrepreneurs.
Air travel & airports - There will be new measures at a href=”http://www.thefinancialblog.co.uk/click.php?kw=heathrow” mce_href=”http://www.thefinancialblog.co.uk/click.php?kw=heathrow”>Heathrow and other airports, using biometric technology, to help speed up the time it takes to get through security checks.
The Environment - By 2009 Laws will be introduced to tax plastic bags if shops do not do more to charge for their use. £26 million will be amde available to help make homes more eco-friendly. From 2019 all new non-domestic buildings are to become zero-carbon. The government is asking the European Commission for tougher targets on car fuel emmissions By 2050 serious consideration should be given to raise the target for emissions to be cut by 80 per cent.
Education - By 2012 every school will be an ‘improving school’. There will be £200 million extra for schools to raise GCSE results and a £30 million fund to improve science teaching.
Poverty - ‘Child poverty must be eradicated in Britain.’ A total of 600,000 fewer children in relative poverty and 150,000 fewer children in absolute poverty. 5 million customers on pre-paid meters should get a better deal. Energy companies should spend £150 million on social tariffs. There will be £17 more per week for poor families with one child. A family with two children earning up to £28,000 a year will be £130 a year better off. A further £125 million is to be spent over the next three years to help families.
Savings - By 2010 the government will launch the savings gateway nationally with accounts available. The Cash ISA limit is confirmed as £3,600 a year from April 2008.
The economy - ‘There has been great turbulence in global financial markets, starting in the US and this has spread across the world which poses a major risk to the world economy.’
The British economy will continue to grow. Mr Darling said “This Budget is about equipping Britain for the times ahead, about building a fairer society,” He also said “Britain is more resilient and more prepared to deal with global shocks.”
The UK’s GDP per head has gone from the lowest in the G7 in the 1990s to second highest now
The British economy will this year grow from between 1.75 per cent and 2.25 per cent, down from 3 per cent last year.
Mr Darling Said: “There will be no return to the inflation rates of the early 1990s.” The target on inflation is to be kept at 2 per cent.
Borrowing next year will rise to £43 billion - 2.9 per cent of national income. It will fall to 1.3 per cent by 2012/13.
By 2011, investment will have increased by 500 per cent, trebling as a share of national income. Public spending in the coming three years will grow by 2.2 per cent a year.
The armed forces - An extra £2 billion will be spent on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan to help troops in the frontline. Also £900m on military equipment.
Public services - The focus for the next decade on the NHS will be creating ‘world-class services.’
So, nothing too drastic and with this budget the chancellor has managed to avoid a country wide protest by totally avoiding the fuel duty issue until October. Quite what he thinks that will acheive I don’t know, we’ll still all be as furious when he puts up duty by £0.02 then anyway! At least we get the 7 months benefit of our fantastically cheap fuel until October! Not!…