The Chancellor was mobbed last night as he headed to the pub hours after giving booze duty the biggest shake-up in 140 years by cutting the price of ale and prosecco in a £150billion Budget spending spree.
Rishi Sunak was pictured surrounded by crowds of drinkers outside the Two Chairmen in Westminster late on Wednesday evening after delivering his speech in the House of Commons in the afternoon.
The Chancellor used his Budget to set out a new Draught Relief policy which will see beer and cider duty reduced by five per cent.
He said that amounted to the biggest cut on the tax on beer in 50 years and the 'biggest cut to cider duty since 1923'.
The Chancellor added that his overhaul to duty would deliver the 'most radical simplification of alcohol duties for over 140 years', resulting in a 'simpler, fairer and healthier' system.
Elsewhere in his keynote speech, the Chancellor poured cash into schools, hospitals and Boris Johnson's 'levelling up' agenda – declaring the Tories were now 'the real party of public services'.
Other measures which will please voters include the helping of the high street on business rates and the giving of support to 2million of the lowest paid.
Experts said the scale of the spending would see the state expand to its biggest size since the late 1970s, before Margaret Thatcher conducted a decade of reform to bring it under control. The tax burden will reach its highest level for 70 years.
The Chancellor was mobbed last night as he headed to the pub hours after giving booze duty the biggest shake-up in 140 years by cutting the price of ale and prosecco in a £150billion Budget spending spree. Rishi Sunak was pictured surrounded by crowds of drinkers outside the Two Chairmen in Westminster late on Wednesday evening after delivering his speech in the House of Commons in the afternoon
The Chancellor used his Budget to set out a new Draught Relief policy which will see beer and cider duty reduced by five per cent. He said that amounted to the biggest cut on the tax on beer in 50 years and the 'biggest cut to cider duty since 1923'. Above: Mr Sunak with Boris Johnson in a visit to the Fourpure Brewery in Bermondsey, south-east London, on Wednesday
Elsewhere in his keynote speech, the Chancellor poured cash into schools, hospitals and Boris Johnson's 'levelling up' agenda – declaring the Tories were now 'the real party of public services'
Some Tory grandees last night questioned the decision to embark on even higher spending at a time when the national debt is already heading towards £2.5trillion.
But Mr Sunak said investing in a more innovative, high-skilled economy is 'the only sustainable path to individual prosperity'.
And he vowed to start bringing taxes down by the end of this Parliament, saying it was time for the Tories to start making the 'moral' case for a smaller state.
Late last night, he went further in an address to Tory MPs – promising that every spare pound would now be diverted to a war chest designed to deliver tax cuts before the election.
The Chancellor was boosted yesterday as the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast that UK growth will now be 6.5 per cent this year – much higher than its previous forecast.
It means the economy is now expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year – six months faster than expected.
The Chancellor said Britain still faced 'challenging months ahead' – with inflation a looming threat.
But he said it was now time to start 'preparing for a new economy post-Covid... an economy of higher wages, higher skills and rising productivity.
'Of strong public services, vibrant communities and safer streets. An economy fit for a new age of optimism.'
His consumer-friendly package of giveaways included a fuel duty freeze, a reform of alcohol taxes that will cut the price of many popular drinks, a major business rates cut for shops and pubs and reform of Universal Credit to help the lowest paid.
However, yesterday's official forecasts also warned that inflation could soar past 5 per cent next year, the highest in three decades.
And the OBR modelled an increase in interest rates from 0.1 per cent to 3.5 per cent by 2023 – a move that would add hundreds of pounds a month to a typical mortgage.
Yesterday's Budget and Spending Review represented an uneasy compromise between the Chancellor and Prime Minister. Improved economic forecasts left the Chancellor with an extra £50billion a year to spend.
But Mr Johnson insisted the bulk of the windfall should be spent on shoring up public services after the pandemic and delivering his levelling up agenda.
One ally of Mr Sunak said: 'It was the Chancellor's Budget, but it was the Prime Minister's spending review.'
However, in a highly personal section of his speech yesterday, the Chancellor said it was time for the Tories to start making the 'moral' case for lower taxes and a smaller state.
Hinting at rumoured tensions with the PM, he said: 'By the end of this Parliament, I want taxes to be going down, not up.'
The OBR said Mr Sunak had now presided over the biggest increase in taxes since the Black Wednesday debacle three decades ago.
The Chancellor said he disliked the tax hikes but had no choice in the wake of the pandemic. Last night he told Tory MPs he had 'set a clear and unambiguous intent to begin the process of reducing taxes'.
But some party grandees said cuts should have started immediately. Ex-Cabinet minister David Davis said higher taxes would 'undoubtedly' depress growth and employment.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies said plans that focused on public services, benefits and wages meant the Chancellor's plans were 'more similar to Gordon Brown's than to George Osborne's'.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the Budget measures were 'not enough' to help families facing a cost-of-living crisis and told Mr Sunak: 'The Conservatives are now the party of high taxation.'
Announcing the booze duty cut, The Chancellor said drinkers would save 3p per pint – the biggest tax cut to beer in 50 years.
The cost of English sparkling wine, prosecco and champagne will also fall, potentially cutting the cost by 53p a bottle.
However, the cuts will not take effect until February 2023.
In a separate announcement, the Chancellor also announced that a planned increase in duty on spirits, wine, cider and beer due to
