Coronavirus pandemic scuppers Treasury's Autumn Budget

The Treasury (the UK’s economic and finance ministry) has abandoned plans to present an Autumn Budget later this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In announcing the news the Treasury released the following statement: "As we heard this week, now is not the right time to outline long-term plans - people want to see us focused on the here and now".

"So we are confirming today that there will be no Budget this autumn", the Treasury added.

According to the BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, the Treasury will instead present a spending review setting out the “overall shape” of government spending.

The Treasury’s announcement comes ahead of Chancellor, Rishi Sunak’s anticipated announcement of a “winter economy plan”.

The Chancellor is set to announce on Thursday (September 24) details of his plans once the coronavirus-related furlough scheme expires at the end of October.

The Chancellor’s announcement comes on the heels of mounting pressure on Boris Johnson, at Prime Minister’s Questions (in the House of Commons) on Wednesday (September 23) to act to prevent a “tsunamic of job losses” pursuant to the economic impact of the pandemic.

The PM claimed Chancellor Sunak is working on “creative and imaginative” solutions to contain the economic fallout of the pandemic.

ME