Name: Tom Oxley
Occupation: Financial services
Verdict: £378 worse off
Name: Jerry Finch
Occupation: Product development
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Verdict: £578 worse off
Tom: I am relatively unaffected by this Budget, as I do not have children or claim any benefits. Most of my loss next year will come from the increase to National Insurance, and Labour had already announced that. Hopefully the drop in corporation tax will be good news for my company though.
To be honest I can afford to lose £30 per month and it could have been worse. It’s the cost of a dinner out. And if you shop around on bills for car, insurance and energy you could recoup this money and balance the books.
We have lived through the good times and I think most people now accept it is time to knuckle down and ride out the bad times.
Jerry: I don’t think people will notice the VAT increase on individual purchases but it will add up at the end of the month. Although many people will be relieved that there’s no increase to ‘sin duties,’ duty on almost everything is still increasing because of VAT.
Tom: I was very surprised at some of the figures revealed in the Budget – such as we spend more on housing benefit than on the police and universities combined.
Jerry: People like nurses and teachers are so important and a pay freeze may deter people from entering those professions.
Tom: I am concerned about what will be announced in the Spending Review in the autumn. This is where the Government will announce cuts to the things that really matter to communities, such as day centres and regional arts festivals.