In his second full Autumn Statement as Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt outlined his plans for improving the fiscal outlook of the nation.
As he promised to reduce debt, cut taxes, and reward work, the reactions from across the country started to roll in.
Dr Roger Barker, director of policy at the Institute of Directors, welcomed the full expensing being made permanent:
"According to our members, full expensing is already exerting a positive impact on investment decision-making.
"Of firms with capital budgets above £1m, nearly a quarter have told us that they have altered their investment plans as a direct result of the policy. We had been calling on the Government to make this policy permanent and are therefore delighted that the Chancellor has listened."
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, was less positive about Hunt's statement, saying:
"If the Chancellor was determined to cut taxes, he has picked a pretty sensible set of taxes to cut...
"Cutting National Insurance is a good way to boost employment. But these tax cuts have been ‘paid for', in effect, by a bigger squeeze on the real-terms value of public service budgets and an even bigger squeeze on public investment, which is frozen in cash terms.
"There's a material risk that those plans prove undeliverable and today's tax cuts will not prove to be sustainable."
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