2020 Budget - the political reaction

11 Mar 2020

Addressing the House of Commons, Chancellor Rishi Sunak stated that the 2020 Budget was one that 'delivers on our promises to the British people'.

However, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn lambasted the 2020 Budget as one that was 'billed as a turning point, a chance to deliver, in particular on the promises made to working class communities during the General Election, but it doesn't come close'.

He continued: 'The reality is that this Budget is an admission of failure, an admission that austerity has been a failed experiment that didn't solve our economic problems but made them worse, that held back our recovery and failed even on its own terms.

Mr Corbyn stated that the measures announced in the Budget 'go nowhere near reversing the damage that has been done' to the UK.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats said that the 2020 Budget revealed that the UK economy was 'alarmingly weak even before the coronavirus'. Ed Davey, acting Co-Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: 'The government is desperate to blame anyone or anything, but the reality is that it's the Conservatives' Brexit which is costing Britain's economy dearly.'

The Green Party criticised the Chancellor's decision not to comment on the cost of Brexit in his Budget speech. Caroline Lucas, Co-Leader of the Green Party, stated: 'Mr Sunak announces a £30 billion package to help the economy cope with the coronavirus, but not once in the 2020 Budget was the cost of Brexit mentioned.

'The Prime Minister's deal could come at a cost of as much as £49 billion per year to public finances. There's a Brexit elephant in the Budget.'