The budget was released on Monday 29th October this year by the Chancellor of the Exchequer- Philip Hammond, but what was so significant about it?

The government budget, also known as the Annual Financial Statement, is a document outlining Britain’s economic situation, proposed revenues and government spending figures for the next financial year which is presented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the House of Commons.

Following each budget statement, the Commons Treasury Committee and the opposing party’s leader, in this case Jeremy Corbyn, scrutinise the new proposals. This leads to a four day period whereby the House of Commons debate the Budget Resolutions- this is the tax changes introduced in the new budget. If the House of Commons agree with the new reforms on taxation, then it will be included in the Financial Bill. This bill will then be debated by both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. This level of scrutiny illustrates the accountability, importance and transparency present in the process of finalising new reforms. The evaluation of the new policies will then be taken into consideration by the Chancellor who will decide what will happen next.

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, had a very important role in this year's event as he decided what the government revenue will be and what it will be spent on. This position is equivalent to Finance Minister of other countries. Hammond has been the Chancellor of the Exchequer since 2016, but when was this role invented? Although there is no exact date, it is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle between the years 991 and 1012!

There are many traditions regarding the Budget speech; one tradition is the red Budget box which contains the Chancellor’s speech, which surprisingly dates back to 1860. Nevertheless, different boxes have been used since then. Another tradition of the Budget is the Chancellor being able to drink alcohol during the speech, although individuals like George Osborne just drank water. Moreover, the speech often takes place on a Wednesday, however the 2018 Budget speech took place on a Monday to perhaps avoid the humorous headlines of Halloween coinciding with day of the speech.

Some notable mentions of the budget released this year include the statement of austerity “finally coming to an end" according to the Chancellor. However to some people such as Jeremy Corbyn, the increased taxes that will be introduced prove otherwise. Furthermore, the National Living Wage is expected to increase to £8.21 compared to the previous £7.83 which will benefit 2.4 million workers. An additional £400 million will also be granted to schools to ‘buy the little extras they need’. Nevertheless, this has faced criticism as £2.8 billion has been taken out of school budgets since 2015, and this extra funding is less than a fifth of this figure. I asked my friend Vidhi who also studies economics, about her views on the budget to which she replied: ‘the funding for schools is appalling; I read somewhere that when calculated, every high school will get £50,000 which is nothing when you really think about it.’

A few measures, e.g. the duty rate on alcohol or tobacco changing, can come into effect on Budget day at 6pm or soon after, which highlights the significance of the budget as it heavily affects us consumers. Therefore, the budget is extremely important as it impacts us daily, whether we are students or full-time workers. I think that more young people should be involved in the country’s economic events as they affect us and ultimately, we will be the next generation to run this country.

So, make it a regular thing to analyse the budget annually, or perhaps carry on reading articles such as this one to broaden your economic knowledge!