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1990 United Kingdom budget
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November 2022
November 2022
United Kingdom budget 1990 United Kingdom 1989 United Kingdom budget 1989 1991 United Kingdom budget 1991 Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg 200px 20 March 1990 50th Conservative Party John Major
The 1990 United Kingdom budget was delivered by John Major, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 20 March 1990. It was the only budget to be delivered by Major during his tenure as Chancellor,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/budget97/background/bud1979_92.shtml Budgets 1979–1992 www.bbc.co.uk 20 November 2022 and the twelfth and final budget to be presented by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher, who would resign as prime minister later that year.40912584 Fiscal Policy: The Third Thatcher Administration 1987–1990 and the Thatcher Legacy 1990–1993 Shaw, G. K. 1994 FinanzArchiv / Public Finance Analysis 51 1 75–94 The 1990 budget also marked the first occasion on which a budget statement was televised,https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/1bc6ce99f3da4282bfdff7119b6c89e0 https://web.archive.org/web/20141023160924/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/1bc6ce99f3da4282bfdff7119b6c89e0 dead 23 October 2014 Budget 90 Special 20 March 1990 BBC Genome BBC Two England 20 November 2022 after cameras were allowed into the House of Commons in November 1989.https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/march/first-televised-budget-speech/ First televised Budget speech www.bbc.com 20 November 2022
Overview
With the United Kingdom entering challenging economic times, Major cautiously forecast economic growth of 1%, but did not significantly raise taxes and continued to rely on interest rates. Among the announcements made in the 1990 budget were the introduction of separate tax arrangements for husbands and wives, the introduction of tax-exempt special savings accounts (TESSAs), a tax-free savings scheme, and a raising of the investment ceiling for personal equity plans (PEPs) from £4,800 to £6,000. Major also confirmed that stamp duty on share deals would be abolished from 1992 to coincide with the introduction of "paperless" trading.http://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/mar/03/budget1999.budget9 Bygone budgets: March 1990 3 March 1999 The Guardian 20 November 2022 A poll tax concessionary scheme was announced for those claiming Income Support that raised the amount of savings someone qualifying for the help could have to £16,000, but this was not backdated to include Scotland, which had introduced the poll tax in 1989. Other measures announced that year were a reduction of Pools betting tax from 42.5% to 40% with a condition that the money saved be used to improve crowd safety at football matches, and a rise in duty on beer, wines and spirits and cigarettes, with 2p on beer, 7p on wines, 54p on spirits, and 10p on a packet of 20 cigarettes.
Reaction
The budget was generally received positively by Conservative MPs, who welcomed its cautious economic approach, but there was some criticism from the opposition Labour Party after the poll tax concession scheme was not backdated to include Scotland, and a number of Scottish MPs disrupted proceedings. Labour leader Neil Kinnock also congratulated Major for presenting an excellent maiden budget speech "even though there will be disagreements over a fairly extensive field with what he actually said".
Broadcast
To coincide with the first televised budget speech, BBC Two ran a four-hour programme, Budget 90 Special, which included reaction and analysis from politicians and financial experts, as well as showing the budget speech itself, which lasted 64 minutes. Budget 90 Special was presented by David Dimbleby, while analysis was provided by Peter Snow. Early House of Commons footage was very limited in what could be shown, with only head-and-shoulders shots of the speaking MP or wide angled views of the chamber allowed. Onscreen graphics were added by the BBC to augment the speech, while that week's copy of the Radio Times had produced a checklist titled "What the budget means for you" which viewers could fill in at home as the speech was given.
References
Budget
1990
United Kingdom
Category:March 1990 in the United Kingdom
Category:1990 in British television
Category:John Major