Autumn Budget 2018: What can we expect?

Today (October 29), the government’s latest Autumn Budget is to be unveiled.

The chancellor of the exchequer, Philip Hammond is to outline what the Budget will include from around 3.30pm. This year, the Budget is taking place later in the day to allow MPs to travel from their constituencies.

The Budget is also usually addressed on a Wednesday, but it has been pushed forward to supposedly avoid a ‘Halloween Budget’ - despite the government strongly denying this was the reason why…

So, what do you think will be addressed, and how is Hammond going to tackle the issues of Britain’s economy with the last Budget before Brexit?

Despite it always being impossible to pinpoint the exact issues that will be addressed, we can still take a look at some of the things speculated.

This year, Britain’s high streets have taken a huge beating and many stores have cut several staff members or have fallen straight into administration. It is highly speculated that the government will address this - with a £1.5bn boost.

Broadband for more rural areas of the country and potholes in roads are said to be on the agenda, before the far bigger issues involving tax, spending and potential pay rises.

Last week, we caught up with some of the UK’s businesses to get a feel for what they are expecting will be addressed in the Budget.

In the North East of England, the likes of Tim McElwaine, a tax senior manager at UNW, had this to say: “This Budget will take place in conditions of unusually high economic uncertainty because of the ongoing Brexit negotiations, which seem likely to be reaching the final crunch point at around the same time.”

Click here to find out more on the North East’s opinions of this particular Budget. You can find Yorkshire’s and London’s say, too.

The Autumn Budget will be live from around 3.30pm this afternoon.

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