MPs are lining up to point out something extraordinary about the 2017 Budget: there was not a single mention of Brexit.
SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson was shocked:
Jaw dropping that given Brexit is the biggest challenge to our economy there was not a single mention of it in the budget #Budget2017
— Angus Robertson (@AngusRobertson) March 8, 2017
There was not one word, even though the Prime Minister is starting the official Brexit process within two weeks. Theresa May plans [paywall] to invoke Article 50 towards the end of this month.
Labour MP Ian Murray was equally surprised:
An hour of budget statement and Chancellor didn't even use the word Brexit. Extraordinary. Largest economic headwinds and he ignores it.
— Ian Murray MP (@IanMurrayMP) March 8, 2017
The omission will feed into the perception that the government has no real plan for the biggest issue facing the UK economy. In November, a leaked government document stated that “no common strategy has emerged”. It also warned that the 500+ Brexit projects were “beyond the capacity and capability” of Theresa May’s administration. The Conservative government issued the report, according to The Times.
On the budget, Labour MP Stella Creasy could only joke:
Can someone better at photoshop than me do a picture of the brexit elephant in the House of Commons budget chamber? #brexithaos
— stellacreasy (@stellacreasy) March 8, 2017
Meanwhile, the SNP’s Treasury spokesperson was also shocked:
In a parallel universe, the Chancellor says zilch about #Brexit, relies on very dodgy forecasts, and fails to reform tax system. #Budgetfail
— Roger Mullin (@RogMull) March 8, 2017
And other commentators expressed dismay, too:
Budget like a bed-time story about a world in which Brexit is not taking place. Hard to find a single mention of what's about to happen.
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) March 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/Nick_Pettigrew/status/839473054162042880
The Chancellor just sent out the budget for the next year without even mentioning Brexit. Surely, leaving the EU should be the focus of the ruling government’s budget for 2017? But there is no plan, no imagination, and no values.
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– Read more from The Canary on Budget 2017.
Featured image via Flickr
