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Budget 2017: Best Twitter reaction

Politicians, journalists and voters weigh in on the contents of Philip Hammond’s Red Box

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By The Week Staff

published 22 November 2017

Amid speculation about his own political future, Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered his Autumn Budget this afternoon.

Budget 2017 summary: stamp duty down, diesel tax up and (a bit) more cash for the NHS

Among the major announcements were an additional £350m of winter funding for the NHS, £3bn towards preparations for Brexit, a freeze on fuel duty and the scrapping of stamp duty on homes worth up to £300,000 for first-time buyers.

But not everyone was feeling the love. The BBC’s Nick Robinson said the new health and welfare funding announced by Hammond would only scratch the surface of demand: “£2.8 bn more for NHS (over 4 years) + £1.5 bn for Universal Credit + pledge to fund nurses pay rise = Hammond putting plaster on political wounds,” he said.

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Meanwhile, Labour tried to ‘get down with the kids’ on Twitter by portraying the Budget in the form of a text chat between Theresa May and Philip Hammond:

Which went down about as well as you’d expect:

Jeremy Corbyn’s fiery response speech also divided observers - for some, it was the perfect example of the passion that won Labour legions of new voters, while others found it all a bit loud and incoherent.

Hammond’s decision to throw in a few gags didn’t go down too well, either:

But the beleaguered Chancellor did have his defenders, including the editor of The Spectator, Fraser Nelson, who chimed in on taxes and wages under the Conservative government:

On the whole, says BBC political correspondent Norman Smith, Hammond managed to get through a tricky Budget relatively unscathed:

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Budget 2017 NHS

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