Exactly five months ahead of the UK’s scheduled departure from the EU, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond delivered his Budget amidst calls for increased spending and an end to austerity. FTI Consulting’s Public Affairs team take a look at the key announcements.
In his third Budget speech, the first since he moved the set-piece announcement to the Autumn and the last before Brexit, the Chancellor aimed to put forward a positive tone. That said, the shadow of the UK’s departure from the EU loomed large and he also had the challenge of living up to Theresa May’s declaration at last month’s Conservative Party Conference that “austerity is over”. Much of what he set out had already been leaked or pre-announced – more money for the NHS, infrastructure and the high street and a crackdown on technology firms – but many questions remain over the impact of a no-deal Brexit scenario.