
MATHEMATICALLY, it was impressive stuff. Chancellor Rishi Sunak stood at the House of Commons dispatch box and reeled off a series of bountiful spending statistics.
For this year and next, he pledged an extra £65bn support for the economy in the face of the coronavirus crisis. The furlough job subsidy scheme will be extended until the end of September (£7bn) along with aid for the self-employed (£11bn net); reducing VAT will save the hospitality and leisure sectors almost £5bn; and businesses will benefit from higher capital investment allowances (£25bn), a rates freeze (£7bn) and many other grants and tax breaks.
Extending the £20 a week uplift in universal credit to the end of September will cost the Treasury just over £2bn and paying £500 to some working tax credit recipients about £765m.



