We will finally only know whether his judgement is right or not when the ballot boxes are eventually opened. Back to top John Whiting Before the Budget, I suggested that we would see something of a cappuccino budget. I think that is what we have had. The solidity came from the economic figures we had - which will please many businesses who will see it as giving the best chance for a cut in interest rates. In many ways this is what they will most appreciate, but there were some good things in the measures announced, though it does seem we will have to wait for some of them.
Business gets a number of the tax reliefs they wanted.
The smaller business, predictably, gets some extras - help on VAT administration for instance. But there are no real giveaways here, just sensible improvements to the system and an attempt to streamline administrative burdens. In many ways, this is the area that requires most attention - there have been too many measures in recent years that have added to the administrative burdens on business, particularly on employers. It was increased to 1,880 instead of what would have been a nice round 2,000. But it helps many people and is the main cut in the budget to what will be seen as the headline taxes that we all pay.