Jeremy Hunt’s Treasury spent much of the past week hinting at tax cuts to come in the autumn statement, but the 2p reduction in national insurance still came as a surprise. It was packaged with tax cuts for businesses in what he called an “autumn statement for growth” worth £20bn.
But as Heather Stewart tells Nosheen Iqbal, Hunt also laid out a set of economic predictions that show flatlining economic growth for the next three years, coupled with real-terms spending cuts that critics say will put further pressure on struggling public services.
The statement – a budget in all but name – will be one of the chancellor’s last economic announcements before a general election which could come as early as spring. Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, attacked the Conservatives for presiding over low growth and high taxes: “We all know that working people are worse off under the Conservatives.”
Photograph: Jessica Taylor/Reuters
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