I don’t know if you feel the same, but it seems to me that this is the longest run-up to a Budget that I can remember.  We’ve been talking about it forever. At times the Government’s communications around Rachel Reeves’ second budget have made the Omnishambles Budget of 2012 look competent.

First we were raising income tax rates then we weren’t, the Black Hole in the country’s finances has been of varying sizes and suddenly there now seems to be billions down the back of the sofa to stave off a break in the manifesto promise.

I don’t mind paying more tax. In fact, if I want decent public services and to tackle poverty,  I think a household on our income should be paying significantly more than we are. I really hope that our reaction to today’s announcements is more than “Aaaargh…..tax.”

So what do Lib Dems want to see from the Budget?

We’re looking for energy bills to be cut, cutting VAT for hospitality and getting a better deal with the European Union. We quite like the increase in the minimum wage, but we want to see more opportunities for businesses to grow as Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said:

Increasing the minimum wage is always welcome news for millions of low-paid workers but unless businesses are able to grow, there is a danger that this will result in fewer jobs being available overall.

The government must make people’s money go further by slashing energy bills, boosting our high streets with a cut to VAT for hospitality until 2027, and going for growth with a better deal with Europe.

We’ve opposed the two child benefit cap brought in by the Conservatives from the start so we should welcome its abolition.

After Lib Dem instigated research from the House of Commons Library showed that the costs of Brexit to the nation, namely a staggering £90 billion in tax revenue in 2024/25, Scottish spokesperson Susan Murray said:

The economy is at a standstill. Despite years of promises from the Conservatives and now Labour to kickstart growth and clamp down on crushing household bills, the British people are facing a cost-of-living permacrisis and yet more betrayals from those in charge.

The Government must not load struggling households or high streets with yet more tax rises to pay for its own mistakes. Rachel Reeves must take bold action to slash the cost of living, rescue our high streets, and start fixing the mess left by Brexit – by negotiating a new Customs Union with the EU, to grow our economy and bring in tens of billions for the Exchequer.

Anything else would be tantamount to a dereliction of duty.

Steve Darling, our DWP Spokesperson, has been talking about the impact of freezing tax thresholds on pensioners. I agree with him that we need to worry about those on the lowest incomes having to find extra money because they’ve been dragged into income tax.

This is a stealth tax bombshell that will hit pensioners hard, leaving those affected £800 a year worse off – and Labour is poised to make that nightmare even worse.

Rachel Reeves once called extending these tax thresholds a policy that would ‘hurt working people’. Now it’s clear she’s getting ready to copy the economic vandalism of the past.

The Chancellor must stand by her word, rule out an extension to this outrageous tax freeze at the Budget, and stop hammering pensioners who have already been left out in the cold by skyrocketing energy prices and the disastrous Winter Fuel Payment scandal.

According to a blog post from Independent Age for Equal Pay Day, many of  the poorest older people are women so it is improtant that we take an intersectional approach to this:

While poverty affects almost two million of all older people across the UK, older women are disproportionately impacted. Behind closed doors and on fixed incomes, hundreds of thousands of older women are finding it harder to make ends meet. The statistics are stark:

Poverty among older women is projected to rise from 20% in 2022 to 26% by 2040
Women aged 55 to 59 have 48% less private pension wealth than men in the same group
Older women too often face a future shaped not by rest and recognition, but by rising costs, shrinking incomes and a system they feel overlooks them. At Independent Age, we are determined to ensure that all older people in financial hardship receive better support which they are entitled to.