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Hello!
The Best for Britain Wire is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Welcome to this, your Weekend Wire, where after months of speculation the Chancellor finally unveiled her Budget - but not before the OBR beat her to it. We’ll gloss over the details, the reaction, and the other big news from the week.
Tuck in!
Can we stop talking about it now?
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In the unenviable context of pandemic debt, ongoing Brexit impact, trade wars and… actual war, Wednesday saw Chancellor Rachel Reeves finally confirm the details of her long trailed budget - announcing that while the government were sticking to their pledge not to raise income tax, more of us would end up paying more income tax.
While technically correct that the government did not raise income tax, the Chancellor borrowed a sneaky trick of the last government: freezing tax thresholds. Meaning inflation will push more people into those higher tax brackets, providing the Treasury with much needed revenue.
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Other more welcome measures confirmed in her speech were:
The lifting of the two child benefit cap - expected to lift around half a million kids out of poverty
Increases to the minimum and living wage
Help to pay energy bills
A freeze to rail fares
Increased taxes on gambling (except the horses) - reasonable considering the parallel increases of both gambling addictions and gambling profits across the UK
Making it easier for small business to train apprentices
Our CEO highlighted that the only route left to the government to avoid more pain this time next year is to deepen cooperation with the EU - boosting growth and bringing down prices. For a much more informed and detailed analysis, give a listen to her side hustle; the Quiet Riot Podcast with top economist Vicky Pryce.
Spoiler alert
But the Chancellor’s party was somewhat pooped by the Office for Budget Responsibility who, 30 mins before the Chancellor took to her feet, dumped the details of her speech online to barely disguised glee of commentators across all broadcast media.
The OBR apologised for the SNAFU saying that they would launch a full inquiry into the breach.
And now the scores from the judges…
(Jennings nailed it this week)
The Chancellor’s speech was met with all the puddle-deep mock incredulity we have come to expect from the Leader of the Opposition. But considering she went out to bat for the Liz Truss (mini) Budget, how about reading this much better reaction (exclusive to the Best for Britain Wire) from the Observer’s former Political Editor, Toby Helm instead?
Peace by peace
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This week saw the US slightly ease up pressure for Ukraine to sign off on its surrender with the mooted Thursday deadline now having passed (obviously). But little else has improved for Zelenskyy otherwise, with the US so far failing to row back on any elements of its “peace plan” which reads like Putin’s letter to Santa. Then there’s Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who yesterday resigned amid a $100m corruption scandal - just in case you thought you were having a bad week.
For their part, European leaders published a deft redraft aimed at neutering some of the more insidious elements of the deal.
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In what can only be described as catastrophically tone deaf, the EU and UK decided that this week (see above) was the perfect opportunity to broadcast their disunity on matters of defence and security.
Despite being presented in May as a ‘done deal’ by the EU Chief Ursula Von der Leyen on Friday, it was reported that talks had broken down between the EU and UK on giving UK’s considerable defence industry access to the EU’s €150bn SAFE defence fund.
It means that the UK will miss out on the first round of funding, but the symbolism is perhaps worse than the practical allocation of funds. As our CEO Naomi Smith said,
“In Ukraine, brave men and women stand between us and the tyrant on our doorstep. With Trump putting Zelenskyy under intense pressure to capitulate to Putin’s demands, now is not the time for bureaucratic wrangling.
“It is the time for liberal democratic allies across the EU who are serious about defending freedom and deterring aggression to get their act together, secure UK access to SAFE, and prioritise keeping our continent secure.”
But it is really worth reading a her full thoughts on the issue!
Tragedy in Hong Kong
On Thursday, disturbing news emerged from Hong Kong as flames engulfed a 31 storey residential building, eventually spreading to six others in the eight-tower complex. At time of writing, the death toll stands at 126 but with many more still missing, this figure is expected to rise.
The thoughts of everyone at Best for Britain are with the families and friends of the victims of this disaster, as well as the countless across the UK for whom this news will raise memories of Grenfell.
Thank you so much for your continued support for Best for Britain through your enjoyment of your Weekend Wire.
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With that being said, have an unbelievably awesome weekend my lovelies!
Niall McGourty
Editor of the Best for Britain Wire
Best for Britain
With thanks to Josh Edwicker
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