Trick or Treat?
The UK Budget on 30 October made history. It was the first budget to be delivered by a woman, and the first budget to be delivered by a Labour government in 14 years.
There were few surprises as much of what was said had been leaked during recent weeks.
There were some treats, and it was good to see more investment promised in innovation and technology. There were some tricks, and there was little to excite the engine room of the UK – small and medium size businesses. This important segment employs between one and 249 employees, contributes more than £2 trillion in turnover, and employs 44% of the British workforce. These organisations must be concerned, which in a post-Covid world, now face new pressures on their commercial, financial and mental health wellbeing.
As a profession, we should be concerned too. Will essentially a short-term thinking budget achieve what is needed? We shall see. However, experience and research tell us that we should be looking beyond the immediate horizon. I worry what the announcements made on 30 October will do for our reputation as a country, which is already not what it should be for a country that wants to take a front row seat around the global political table and play a leading role in global risk financing.
The Airmic Monday Big Question has focused on storm and flood for the last three weeks.
We chose this subject during the storms in Florida, but before the awful floods in Spain this week. Our thoughts are with all those touched by these events and with our sister associations in the United States and Spain.