Just one in three Britons think Budget will be good for economy, snap poll shows

Jeremy Hunt has unveiled his spring budget, with plans to expand free childcare, boost pensions and freeze fuel duty.

But according to a YouGov snap poll, just 28 per cent of Britons think his announcements will be good for the economy, with one in five (22 per cent) saying it will be bad.

Half of those asked in the survey, taken shortly after the chancellor made his statement to the Commons, did not yet know either way.

Tory voters unsurprisingly put more faith in their party’s policies, the poll suggests.

Among 2019 Conservative voters, 44 per cent say the measures will be good for the economy, while 13 per cent believe they will be bad. Nearly half though, 43 per cent, don’t know what impact they will have on the nation’s finances.

Looking at the statement as a whole, three in ten (28 per cent) of Britons support the measures, with one in five (18 per cent) opposed to them. But more than half - 54 per cent say that the don’t know.

Against the backdrop of tightened purse strings for most Britons, 22 per cent of the public think that the measures will do a good job of tackling inflation and the cost of living. Three in ten (28 per cent) think the measures will do a bad job.

In a Budget aimed at increasing the numbers of people in work and the productivity of British firms, the Chancellor said the economy would avoid a recession and was “proving the doubters wrong”.

On Wednesday, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the UK will not enter a technical recession this year and the government will meet the Prime Minister’s priorities to halve inflation, reduce debt and get the economy growing.

But the size of the economy is still forecast to shrink this year, living standards are the worst on record and the tax burden remains on course to be the highest since the Second World War.

Living standards, based on real household disposable income (RHDI) per person, is expected to fall by a cumulative 5.7% over the two financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24 - less than forecast in November but still the largest since records began in 1956-57.

Speaking on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer said: “After 13 years of his Government, our economy needed major surgery, but like millions across our country, this Budget leaves us stuck in the waiting room with only a sticking plaster to hand.

“A country set on a path of managed decline, falling behind our competitors, the sick man of Europe once again.”