Budget annoucement 2024: Jeremy Hunt expected to annouce national insurance and personal tax cut

If you were given the reigns to Number 11, what policies would you implement?

Would you be keen to see more help introduced for first-time buyers? Or would you rather see enhanced VAT relief on electric vehicle charging brought in?

Jeremy Hunt is widely expected to cut a 2p off of national insurance today in a mass giveaway for voters ahead of the general election. But think tanks have said this could plunge thousands of families into poverty.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said that a further 2p cut in the pound would cost the government £10.4bn, and almost half of that would end up in the pockets of the richest 20 per cent of households, while a meagre 3 per cent of the funding would benefit the poorest 20 per cent of families.

Meanwhile, the New Economics Foundation (NEF) has cautioned that even a 1p tax cut would cost the government £4.8bn, with almost half going to the richest households – while the poorest receive just £160m.

It added that the 1p cut alone would push more than 55,000 people into relative poverty. If invested into universal credit it could instead lift 384,000 people out of poverty with an additional £720 per year.

You can watch live as Jeremy Hunt holds up the red box outside Downing Street ahead of the Budget:

John Rentoul, The Independent’s chief political commentator, is on hand to explain how planned tax cuts could affect both your wallet and wider confidence in the Tory party.

New polling by Savanta appears to see the Tories steal one point from Reform – which still leaves them trailing 17 per cent behind Labour, who command 44 per cent of the vote.

Jeremy Hunt will make his spring Budget announcement today, amid reports he could cut taxes for UK households in some fashion.

My colleague Albert Toth takes a look at the chancellor’s previous record on tax initiatives:

Ministers have been seen arriving at Downing Street, as Rishi Sunak chairs a pre-Budget cabinet meeting.

It would also prove ruinously expensive and terrible for the planet.

The idea that was supposed to curry favour with voters is in serious need of a rethink…

Jeremy Hunt cutting national insurance will likely only prompt future tax increases after the next general election, an economist has warned.

Adam Corlett, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation think-tank, said there were “huge questions” over whether Britain can afford tax cuts given the current state of the economy. The UK is in a technical recession, with uncertainty over when interest rates currently punishing borrowers will fall.

Mr Corlett said: “While this is going to be a tax-cutting election year, it is sandwiched between significant past and future tax rises, with the budget likely to only add to the number of tax increases coming in after the election.”