Adam Smith Institute: This is not a Budget for growth

Tom Clougherty, executive director of the Adam Smith Institute, said in response to the Budget:

“The budget will do little to encourage job creation. Yes, the chancellor announced a handful of welcome changes to employment rules, but these pale into insignificance when compared with the rise in employers’ national insurance contributions now coming into effect.

“Changes to thresholds do little to help the overall picture. Raising the cost of employment at a time like this is madness – the chancellor should have cancelled the rise in employer contributions.”