Gideon's reaction to the Budget
"This was predicted to be a steady Budget, and any big plans, like proper funding for social care which Lib Dems have been calling for, were pushed into the future, as were the big savings which will be needed to fully fund the Defence Investment Plan. Unfortunately, the Chancellor didn't follow our advice to issue £20 billion of defence bonds for anyone to invest in.
"I've also long been calling for more help for the High Street so the Chancellor upping the value at which shops, restaurants and gyms start paying business rates - from £15,000 to £18,000 - is really welcome, although I'm concerned that pubs may miss out.
"Help with people's energy bills, a £100 winter payment to council tax homes valued A to D, is also welcome but really isn't enough given average bills look like rising by £300 to £400 in the New Year.
"John Healey has paid for some of this by reducing the headroom he has against rising borrowing costs.
"Thanks to Trump's idiotic war with Iran - which the Conservatives and Reform parties proposed sending UK troops to join - the country's borrowing costs have already gone up to north of £100 billion per year, and fuel prices and interest rates have also surged.
"The last Chancellor protected £23.6 billion against these kinds of shocks, while John Healey is protecting a smaller reserve of £15 billion, allowing him to do some of the smaller giveaways he's plugging on TikTok".
"What was really missing - as Ed Davey pointed out in responding to the Chancellor - was the single biggest lever we could pull to boost growth and that's a much-needed new growth and defence pact with Europe, including joining the customs union and single market.
"An ambitious move like that would help undo the damage the last government's appallingly bad Brexit deal has caused, costing the UK around £90 billion per year in lost tax revenue according to the Independent US tank tank, the National Bureau of Economic Research.
"Putting free trade with Europe back in place would grow the UK economy significantly which we, as Lib Dems, say should be used to fund a rise in tax thresholds to give everyone the tax cut they need."