Budget 2021: strip away pandemic largesse and UK government is banking on recovery with no extra public spending
- Written by Steve Schifferes, Honorary Research Fellow, City Political Economy Research Centre, City, University of London
What a difference a year makes. In March 2020, the chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced an emergency budget pledging £12 billion to tackle coronavirus. One year later, the government has already spent £280 billion, and spending by spring 2022 will exceed £400 billion.
The 2021 budget – perhaps the most widely...