We Have Made Good Progress ...

We have made good progress ...
OBR forecasts show we have made good progress on the Prime Minister's three economic priorities. Inflation has halved ... Debt is falling ... Growth is 1.5 percentage points higher than predicted.

The OBR expects the economy to grow by 0.8% this year and 1.9% next year. After that growth rises to 2%, 1.8%, and 1.7% in 2028. Inflation will fall to 2%.

Underlying debt, will be 91.7% of GDP in 2024-25, then 92.8%, 93.2%, 93.2% before falling to 92.9% in 2028-29 with final year headroom of £8.9bn. (That's enough for another NI cut!)

Business confidence is returning ...
Business confidence is returning. Investment is surging. In the short period since the Autumn Statement, Nissan have announced they will build two new electric car models in the UK.

Microsoft and Google have announced data centres worth over £3 billion. Thanks to the Business Secretary, the Global Investment Summit unlocked £30 billion of investment.

There will be more money for police technology ...
There will be more money for police technology. We will spend £230m rolling out time saving technology which speeds up police response times. Victims will be able to report crimes by video call (assuming their phones haven't been nicked).

Drones will be used as first responders, under a new "Use Your Phone or Talk To A Drone" campaign. This way, all incidents will be attended with a "Fly By" at least. The crime response stats will be improved at the "flick of a joystick".

Non Dom status will be abolished ...
Non Dom status will be abolished raising £2.7 billion a year but there's a catch ...
From April 2025, new arrivals to the UK will not be required to pay any tax on foreign income for their first four years of UK residency. This is a more generous regime than at present and one of the most attractive offers in Europe. But after four years, those who continue to live in the UK will pay the same tax as other UK residents.

In a two-year period, individuals will be encouraged to bring wealth, earned overseas, to the UK where it can be spent, invested and taxed! This measure will attract £15 billion of foreign income and generate more than £1 billion in extra tax, it is said. Yes they will be arriving by the boat load, who could resist that offer.

Overall, abolishing non-dom status will raise £2.7 billion a year by the end of the forecast period. That's assuming "they stay to pay". There aren't many, anyway, approximately 37,000, of which 90% choose to leave with seven years as it is.

If they come and leave within four years, they will be better off under the new regime. It's a four year window. Time to work things out and time to buy a second home in Monaco.

Village Hall Boost ...
More good news, there will be £5m to renovate hundreds of local village halls across England so they can remain at the heart of their communities, hosting food banks and social services as local authority budgets are slashed.