New Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirms Budget will go ahead on 11 March
2 min read
Rishi Sunak has confirmed the Budget will go ahead on 11 March despite having less than a month as Chancellor to prepare for it.
The new man in Number 11 said he was “cracking on” with the preparations quashing speculation the fiscal event could be delayed to give him more chance to get his feet under the table.
He was promoted to the role after the shock resignation of Sajid Javid in last week’s reshuffle amid a row over the sacking of advisers.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman had declined to confirm the date was fixed in the calendar, while a Cabinet minister suggested the 39-year-old "may want time" before delivering it.
But confirming the news in a tweet, Mr Sunak posted a picture of himself at a desk with his ministerial red folders and wrote: “Cracking on with preparations for my first Budget on March 11.
“It will deliver on the promises we made to the British people – levelling up and unleashing the country’s potential.”
After Mr Javid’s departure as Chancellor a Downing Street spokesman refused to guarantee it was going ahead as scheduled, saying only that "extensive preparations have already been carried out for the Budget and they will continue at pace".
And on Sunday the transport secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News: "I know that the Budget plans are well advanced but I also know that Rishi Sunak, the new Chancellor, may want time.
"I haven't heard whether the date of March is confirmed as yet.”
He also told the BBC: "The guy's only been in place for a few days, let's give him a few days to decide on the date."
Legally the Government had to hold a Budget before the end of the tax year on 5 April anyway.
The Chancellor will now work with his new number two, the former Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay, who has taken Mr Sunak's previous job as Chief Secretary the Treasury, on the UK’s first Budget outside the EU.
Plans are thought to have been quite advanced under Mr Javid, with plans for a big increase in infrastructure spending as part of Boris Johnson’s “levelling up” mantra.
But he clashed with Number 10 over his fiscal rules, which do not allow for Government borrowing to pay for an increase in day-to-day spending.
This means many departmental budgets were set to remain in place, and Mr Sunak may now come under pressure to relax some of those guidelines.
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