Thames Valley: James Cowper Kreston guests vote on Hammond's Budget

The Thames Valley saw the return of one of the biggest budget events of the year: the James Cowper Kreston Budget Breakfast. Held at the iconic Newbury Racecourse, the breakfast is attended by more than 200 professionals and business owners who are hungry for the facts about the latest Budget announcement.

Presented by tax experts Ian Miles, Sharon Bedford and Alex Nicholson, partners at James Cowper Kreston, the Budget Breakfast takes guests through the tax changes which were highlighted in this year’s Autumn Budget. Accompanying the talks, interactive voting was featured to gain an understanding of the general mood across the Thames Valley following some of the less surprising announcements made by chancellor Philip Hammond.

With Hammond’s announcement of a £3 billion reserve, for future challenges brought on by Brexit, guests were asked what type of EU deal they thought we were heading for. Only 13% believed we were in for ‘the best that Britain could get’ while 59% thought we would get a ‘deal with too many concessions’; if the latter is true it appears that the £3b may not be enough.

Keeping with the Brexit theme, attendees were asked whether they thought Teresa May’s Government was making the right approach to Brexit negotiations with the EU. 43% stated that, regardless of who was in charge, progress would be slow and difficult, while 36% believed May’s government was not up to the challenge.

It was reported that the Budget was one for the young, but had the Conservative party done enough to entice the young vote away from Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour? An overwhelming 73% believed that, in spite of the abolition of Stamp Duty Land Tax for properties of a certain value, the introduction of the millennial rail card and a new focus on maths studies, younger voters would still choose to lend their support, and their votes, to Labour.

Considering the recent headlines which emphasised tension between the chancellor and the PM the question was asked: ‘Will Philip Hammond still be chancellor at the time of the next budget?’ 31% predicted that he would soon be ousted from his post while 69% believed he would retain his position and be there to announce the Budget in 2018.