The focus will be on Jeremy Hunt next week as the Chancellor delivers one of the most critical Budget announcements in recent years.
While most of the fallout from September’s “mini-Budget” has unwound, the outlook remains extremely tough with inflation in double digits and the economy most likely already in recession. Against this backdrop, the Chancellor and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are weighing up a range of options to cut spending by up to £50 billion.
“He may struggle to win political support for the full scale of belt-tightening he is planning, given the context of the cost-of-living crisis and the enormous ongoing strains on the health service in the wake of the pandemic,” said Oliver Jones, asset allocation strategist at Rathbones.
READ MORE: Financial firestorm subsides but new Chancellor must further quell investors
Rathbones will be among a number of professional firms set to dissect tax and spending plans at the Herald Budget Briefing on November 18. Chaired by Herald columnist and political commentator Brian Taylor, the panel of experts includes Azets tax partner Kirsty Murray, Rathbones regional director Adam Drummond, Graeme Sands of Virgin Money and Grant Johnston, partner and head of wealth planning at Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie (WJM).
“Recent political decisions and subsequent U-turns have created a great deal of market uncertainty, so it’s fair to say all eyes will be on Jeremy Hunt as he unveils his budget, with businesses and households alike hoping for an update that will bring greater economic stability,” Mr Johnston said.
“We’ve been warned of the difficult decisions that lie ahead, and tax rises seem inevitable, but it will be interesting to see more detail and find out what the scale and focus of these increases will be, and how these decisions will impact the economy and jobs market.
READ MORE: Tories' extraordinary economic pantomime is no plan at all
“The ongoing cost-of-living crisis means many are already facing squeezed budgets so Hunt faces a real challenge if he is to strike the right balance and restore confidence in the economy.”
Ms Murray added: “The uncertain and changeable economic backdrop over the last few months has created a challenging environment for businesses trying to plan for the future, minimise costs and retain much-needed cashflow.
“The Budget announcement on 17 November must include clear plans for SME business leaders to run their business effectively and grow.”
The event will take place at the Virgin Money Customer Banking Lounge in Glasgow’s St Vincent at 9am. Tickets cost £10 plus VAT. To reserve a place, email events@newsquestscotlandevents.com.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here