Will the Budget help you (or anyone)?
It was billed as a make or break Budget, so did the Chancellor pitch it right? Philip Hammond pulled a George Osborne-sized rabbit from the hat at the end with the abolition of stamp duty for first-time buyers, but was that enough to make us to forget the gloomy economic news and the gags? On the plus side, the Budget brought an income tax cut for most, the promise of more homes being built, and no more stamp duty for most first-time buyers. On the negative side, economists say we are due another lost decade, Philip Hammond’s own financial watchdog said he would drive up house prices, and cough sweet jokes might be catching on. This week, Simon Lambert, Rachel Rickard Straus and Georgie Frost pick apart the Budget to try to find out who the winners and losers will be. From an up to £5,000 tax saving on a first home, to railcards for the under-30s, zero mentions of the word saver, and whether Just Eat can really solve the productivity puzzle, they round up what you need to know. Plus, what exactly was Simon’s stamp duty idea that drew 296 reader comments – of which about 295 were calling him an idiot? Listen to the podcast to find out.