The problem with the budget is that you often miss bits. After 20mins of the Chancellor talking my brain normally enters into hibernation mode, causing memory loss and an inability to care. But like I said the thing with budgets is that you quite often miss important parts, like the coalitions plan to scrap Labour’s Savings Gateway.

The previous Chancellor, Alistair ‘no I don’t dye my eyebrows’ Darling, had pledged to implement a Savings Gateway from the start of July. The scheme would have added 50p to every £1 placed into a savings account. Over 8million people on benefits and tax credits would have been eligible the savings scheme, but unfortunately, as Liam Byrne the ex-treasury minister foolishly and arrogantly stated “Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid there is no money. Kind regards – and good luck!”

In the budget the new Chancellor, George Osborne, announced that the Savings Gateway was simply unaffordable and that the government was unable to provide additional funds for taxpayer’s savings accounts. Although times are hard, the government does want to increase the rate at which people save. Boosting cash flow into ISA’s and current accounts helps to refloat financial institutions’ balance sheets, which in-turn gets them lending with more confidence and helps the economy to grow.     

However, despite all the doom and gloom about the scrapping of the savings gateway the government did up the standard tax allowance and also increased the threshold for tax free instant access savings accounts. Every individual is now allowed to put up to a maximum of £5,100 into an ISA with the additional option of adding £10,200 worth of shares. The Chancellor also announced that from now on ISA limits would rise yearly with inflation.