Hunt announces a “landmark public sector productivity plan” will be published today, including cutting form filling by doctors using AI, digitising hospital processes and improving the NHS app. He adds: “We need a more productive state, not a bigger state.”
He acknowledges that interest rates “remain high as we bring down inflation”, but adds: “We can now help families not just with cost of living support but with permanent cuts in taxation.” He calls it a “budget for long term growth”.
PW: Another relatively minor tax change which taps into what appears to be genuine public sentiment – in this case, worries about how the rapid growth of the Airbnb economy risks hollowing out some holiday-dominated communities.
PW: The seemingly serious wobbles faced by the government’s 30-hour free childcare offer for younger children has unsettled quite a few Tory MPs, who fear it will cause chaos if it doesn’t work.
PW: In talking about public services, Hunt faces the problem experienced by Rishi Sunak at every prime minister’s questions – he has to argue they are performing well, when more or less every voter in the UK disagrees.
PW: It is notable that Hunt announces both a tax break for smaller businesses, and efforts to address what he calls “historic underinvestment” – a concession that many voters believe the UK’s infrastructure is somewhat crumbling.
PW: For all that successive fiscal statements have been billed as a “budget for growth”, even these forecasts are fairly anaemic, and unlikely to instil new hope in Tory MPs facing electoral defeat.
The original article contains 807 words, the summary contains 217 words. Saved 73%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
