Jeremy Hunt has delivered his Spring Budget with many of the main measures well flagged in advance. The headline 2p cut in National Insurance came with the scrapping of the Non-dom tax allowance. Alcohol and fuel duty are frozen as predicted but it is the extension of the oil and gas windfall tax which will grab headlines in Scotland.
This is a big problem for Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross who apparently made his feelings very clear to Mr Hunt before the Budget. His reaction after the announcement was furious saying he was "deeply disappointed" and would not vote for the legislation needed to enact it. Andrew Bowie, a minister in the Department for Energy and Net Zero and the MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, was similarly fuming. The wider fallout may be yet to come.
The SNP has described the Budget meanwhile as a "betrayal" of public services. There will be £300 million extra coming to Scotland through Barnett consequentials linked to NHS investment, but none of the capital spending which Finance Secretary Shona Robison had demanded.
We have extensive coverage of Budget day at scotsman.com today including analysis, comment, and explainers to make sense of all the announcements.
It will all feed into tomorrow's bumper print edition, including a Budget 2024 supplement.
Please do get in touch with your comments as ever scotsman.editor@jpress.co.uk
Have a great evening
Alan
