Andrew Marr: Rishi offering Brits 'somewhere between zip and diddly-squat'

23 March 2022, 18:14

Marr: Spring statement 'the ghost of bunnies yet to come'

Andrew Marr has said Rishi Sunak is offering Brits "somewhere between zip and diddly-squat" in his scathing assessment of the Chancellor's Spring Statement.

In his opening monologue, Andrew summarised the measures laid out by the Chancellor but said they were promises that would need to be paid for later.

"Spring statement. Mini budget," Andrew said.

"For most ordinary folk, I think, a gushing mountain of incomprehensible numbers, statistics, percentages.

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"Claim and counterclaim.

"A dayglo torrent of stuff you know will probably matter to you - but which on the day just feels like so much headache-inducing, over complicated piffle.

"So let's try and boil it all down to three things I think are worth remembering."

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"One - if you're living on benefits, you're going to be poorer," he said.

"Inflation is heading above 7 per cent, with benefits going up by 3 per cent.

"In technical terms what the Chancellor was offering you is somewhere between zip and diddly-squat.

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"Two - if you are in work and earning up to £35,000 or so, then you're not going to feel the much-publicised National Insurance increase, at least for the time being.

"People earning more than that will notice the tax rise; but the help for lower earners must mean less money for the NHS.

"And three - that promised cut of 1p on the basic rate of income tax by 2024, probably election year."

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He went on: "Trouble is - Rishi Sunak told us he doesn't know what's going to happen to the economy - quite rightly.

"Because of the Ukraine war it's going to be a scary and unpredictable ride.

"So how can he be sure, so far ahead of the time, about that particular tax cut?

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"Rishi’s tax cut will be all over tomorrow's papers – but so far ahead of time, it’s a crossed-fingers tax cut, a tax cut on tick.

"It’s not, as everyone calls it, a rabbit out of a hat.

"It's a virtual rabbit, a flickering hologram bunny, at best the ghost of bunnies yet to come.

"My advice? Don’t believe anything until you've actually got your fingers round its warm, furry little ears."