Spring Statement 2019: the key points
Chancellor Philip Hammond pledges £26bn war chest in the event of no-deal Brexit
Chancellor Philip Hammond has delivered his 2019 Spring Statement, promising to spend £26.6bn to boost the economy if MPs vote to leave the European Union with a deal.
The statement, which took place in the Commons this afternoon, saw Hammond present what The Daily Telegraph calls a “low-key mini-Budget” in order to “not create more difficulties for the Government as it struggles to finalise a deal with the EU”.
Hammond revealed that the Office for Budget Responsibility expects UK economic growth to slow to just 1.2% in 2019, a low not seen since the 2008 financial crisis, in the wake of a no-deal Brexit.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
As a result, he seemed keen to discourage MPs from allowing a no-deal scenario to manifest, claiming the decision to reject Theresa May's Brexit deal for a second time had left a “a cloud of uncertainty hanging over our economy”.
Here’s a look at Hammond’s Spring Statement, ranging from his plans on tax to scientific research.
The economy
The chancellor said the UK economy remains robust and has “defied expectations”. It has grown for nine years in a row, which is the longest of any G7 member, The Guardian reports.
“And it’s expected to keep growing for the next five years,” he added, claiming that in 2020 he expects growth of 1.4%, and 1.6% in 2021, 2022 and 2023, with 600,000 new jobs created in the UK by 2023.
On borrowing, the 2018/19 deficit will be 1.1% of GDP, Hammond said, down £3bn from the 1.2% expected in the October budget.
But shadow chancellor John McDonnell claimed the goalposts were being shifted.
“On the deficit, he’s boasting about the deficit - he’s not eliminated the deficit as we were promised by 2015,” McDonnell told the BBC. “He’s simply shifted it on to the shoulders of headteachers, NHS managers, local councillors and police commissioners and, worst of all, onto the backs of many of the poorest in our society.”
Hammond had accused McDonnell of “living in a parallel universe” for predicting the UK would fall into recession.
The chancellor added that the country has been on “a journey of recovery” since the Conservative Party took power in 2010, claiming that the “squeeze on public spending” is coming to an end.
The no-deal Brexit threat
Hammond used his Spring Statement to warn that a no-deal Brexit would deal a “significant” blow to economic activity in the short term, and that “we are not where I hoped we would be today”.
He claimed that the “£15.4bn headroom in the public finances that could be used in a no-deal Brexit has increased to £26.6bn”, The Guardian says, and added that tax and spending responses and Bank of England policy changes could “only ever be temporary to handle a no-deal Brexit” in order to avoid higher levels of inflation.
“The idea there is some readily available fix to avoid the consequences of a no-deal Brexit is just wrong,” Hammond said.
Minimum wage
Hammond also launched an official government review into “evidence on the employment and productivity effects of minimum wage rates”, in order to facilitate “sustainable pay rises for millions of British workers”.
The National Minimum Wage will rise to £8.21 from April.
Travel
The UK will “begin to abolish the need for paper landing cards at UK points of entry” for certain countries, the chancellor said, calling the move a “signal to the world to our commitment to Global Britain”.
“We will allow citizens of the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Singapore and South Korea to use e-gates at our airports and Eurostar terminals, alongside the EEA (European Economic Area) nationals who can already use them,” he said.
Technology
Hammond said the government will “make technology companies pay their fair share” and protect consumers from online harm.
“This government will lead the world in delivering a digital economy that works for everyone,” he said.
Period poverty
Reports last week suggested that the chancellor would announce plans to end “period poverty” in English secondary schools in his statement.
And he duly obliged, unveiling a scheme to fund free sanitary products for girls in secondary schools and colleges in England from the next school year.
Knife crime
Hammond pledged an additional £100m to target knife crime in the wake of spiralling rates of stabbing across the UK.
The Daily Telegraph reports that £80m of funding will come from the Treasury while the extra £20m will be reallocated from Home Office budgets.
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg called the funding pledge a “political win” for Home Secretary Sajid Javid.
Hammond said the new funding will “ensure a lasting solution to this problem”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
What's next for electric vehicles under Trump?
Today's Big Question And what does that mean for Tesla's Elon Musk?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
These 7 touring theater productions are ready to carry you through the holidays and into the new year
The Week Recommends Your favorite movie-turned-musical might be coming to a city near you
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
Dark energy data suggest Einstein was right (luckily)
Speed Read Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of general relativity has been proven correct, according to data collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Britain about to 'boil over'?
Today's Big Question A message shared across far-right groups listed more than 30 potential targets for violence in the UK today
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
UK's Starmer slams 'far-right thuggery' at riots
Speed Read The anti-immigrant violence was spurred by false rumors that the suspect in the Southport knife attack was an immigrant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The Tamils stranded on 'secretive' British island in Indian Ocean
Under the Radar Migrants 'unlawfully detained' since 2021 shipwreck on UK-controlled Diego Garcia, site of important US military base
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published