Anyone old enough to have been around in the last century will affirm that 3.25% is a pretty pathetic rate of inflation. We remember when price rises were price rises and 10% would have been a blessing. No more cheap labour, cheese, toys and electrical stuff from our friends across the channel and enemies in China, alas, and we’re suddenly in the real world. What about interest rates? They are ridiculously low, they will go up, but a move to 0.25 or 0.5% would not be the end of the world. And we now have a government which is using fiscal as well as monetary policy. In other words, Tories who are willing to put taxes up. So I think we can take it in our stride. Nil desperandum.
“Consumer Confidence Drops Amid Budget Uncertainty”
Will they/won’t they? Hit pension tax relief/tax-free lump sums/annual allowance/lifetime allowance? What about Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax? And although they’ve said they won’t touch the rate of VAT, might they extend it? To the cost of our advice, for instance?
