During last week’s epic, hour-long Spring Budget, the ChancellorJeremy Hunt managed to find the time to joke about warm British beer, the Speaker’s age, and former health secretary Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp woes. While the jokes fell as flat as the UK’s economic growth, they weren’t there to make us laugh. They were there to distract us. Because lurking beneath the Budget bonhomie is a sneaky ‘stealth’ tax that could cost UK households thousands over the next few years.
Perhaps it’s no surprise Hunt was in high spirits. We’ve had an unusually mild winter in Europe. Wholesale energy costs are now falling. Together, these have vastly reduced the bill for the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee. But let’s be frank, the bounce in Hunt’s step has largely been down to luck.
