2019 United Kingdom budget

The 2019 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on Wednesday, 20 March 2019. This was Hammond's first budget as Chancellor, and the first budget of the Osborne government formed after David Cameron's resignation as Prime Minister in the previous year.

Key points
Throughout 2019, the UK experienced very strong economic growth, at 5.2%, the fastest rate since 1988. Despite this strong economy, the deficit had, according to The Economist "exploded" since 2015, going from £21bn (0.9% of GDP) in 2015 to £53bn (2.4% of GDP) in 2018.

As such, it was widely expected before the budget that there would be some tax rises or spending cuts in the budget, after several years of fiscal laxity.

Taxes
Contrary to expectations, the budget cut direct taxation even further, although this would be partially offset by the rises in VAT and alcohol and cigarette duties, with The Financial Times stating that "the Chancellor has dropped all appearances of fiscal responsibility", noting that "with the deficit already at a higher level than it ever was under New Labour and the tax burden at its lowest for 26 years, Hammond is now ripping up the fiscal rulebook". The Spectator's "Steerpike" column claimed that "in a bizarre flip of the usual scenario, the Prime Minister has been fighting his Chancellor's plans for tax cuts and spending increases".
 * The top rate of income tax was abolished, following Osborne's own plans from the 2018 budget
 * The income tax personal allowance was raised to £12,700, to be increased incrementally to £15,000 by 2023.
 * Capital gains tax was cut to 10%.
 * Alcohol duty was raised to 25p.
 * Duties on cigarettes were raised to £400 per kg.
 * The basic rate of VAT was raised to 22.5%.

Spending

 * An additional £20bn was allocated to the NHS
 * Funding for education was increased by £15bn
 * The post-tax deduction taper rate on Universal Credit was reduced to 55%