So we now have it the Chancellor duly delivered his budget yesterday and everyone will be working out whether it leaves them better off or worse off. It has become something of a tradition over the years that Chancellors save their most eye-catching announcement to the very end of the Budget Speech. The rabbit out of the hat. An announcement which is intended to take everyone by surprise, one that has not been previously trailed. Yesterday, was slightly different, the Chancellor ended by announcing the increase in the income tax personal allowance and the threshold at which people start to pay 40% tax. This is a further step taken on the road to delivering the pledge contained in the Conservative Manifesto so no real surprise. The real surprise yesterday was the announcement that a levy was to be made on manufacturers of sugary drinks. Obviously not a measure I approve of! More nanny state nonsense as far as I am concerned and I hope it does not overshadow what in other respects was a very good budget which I will be looking at in my posts in the days ahead.
David Nuttall 
In your future posts about the budget your views on the PIP proposals and Ian Duncan Smith’s comments would be helpful.