With Jimmy Ricemoney blog editor

It was hard to avoid the scope of the budget this week; but amidst all the noise, it was a little harder to find unbiased clarity about what this means for you and the UK.

Ours data and economics editor Ed ConwayHe was on Sky News to offer his analysis.

He announced that the UK’s tax burden is now higher than anything else on comparable records, following tax increases totaling £40bn.

This video will help you spend four minutes on your commute…

It’s common to look for winners and losers after financial events; but as financial advisor Blick Rothenberg wrote in his post-event notes, “you’ll be hard-pressed to find many winners.”

The bulk of the bill for the £22bn “black hole” left over from the previous government (this is the picture Labor paints, of course) will fall on businesses, whose national insurance contributions will rise from 13.8% to 15%.

They will also need to allocate a budget for an increase in the minimum wage starting in April. Those aged 21 and over will receive £12.21 per hour; This means an increase of 6.7%. In London this will be £13.85. The minimum wage for 18-20 year olds is rising by 16% from £8.60 to £10.

While these workers see themselves among the winners, we have heard testimonies from employers who are deeply concerned about the sustainability of their businesses.

Toby Dicker, founder of the Salon Employers Association, became emotional as he talked about the full impact of rising national insurance and minimum wage costs on businesses like his.

“It’s much, much, much worse than we thought,” he told Sky News.

Watch the interview here…

Rachel Reeves was also accused of “ridiculous” farmers with her reform of inheritance tax – this was Jeremy Clarkson’s quote.

From April 2026, assets over £1 million will be subject to inheritance tax at a 50% discount (at an effective rate of 20%).

Capital gains tax was also increased – but not as high as some had predicted. Even more surprising to many was the increase in stamp duty for buyers of second homes and investment properties in England and Northern Ireland.

Fee increased from 3% to 5% with less than 12 hours notice; This led to an effort to renegotiate the prices we report here…

In addition to those whose children are in private schools, smokers and e-cigarette users were also listed among the biggest budget losers by Blick Rothenberg.

Winners?

“Those who enjoy the occasional pint will be encouraged to know that military duty will be cut by 1.7%, saving a whopping 1p on a pint in the bar,” financial experts said.

“But don’t get too excited if you prefer vodka and soda, as alcohol tax rates on non-draft products will increase in line with inflation from February 2025.”

As the hours went by, it became clear that the markets weren’t exactly enamored with what they heard in Rachel Reeves’ mailbox.

Ed Conway wrote, “It has fallen off as badly as any budget in recent years, except for Liz Truss’s mini-budget.”

The consequences of this included a fall in the pound sterling and higher interest rates on government borrowing.

“Higher borrowing rates for the UK’s debt mean we will be paying much more to service our debt in the coming years,” Conway said.

“And that debt is about to rise dramatically because of the plans the chancellor laid out this week.”

Conway wrote in the analysis below that this could make for a “sticky” time for Ms. Reeves…

We’ll be back with live updates on Monday morning, and don’t forget our Saturday long read on whether you should give money directly to the homeless will be published starting at 8am tomorrow.