// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Chris Mason: Budget felt cautious despite its range of small measures
Chancellor John Healey unveiled his Budget on Wednesday
This was a Budget I would describe as a flotilla of small measures.
Westminster is poring over the 150 page Red Book, external in which the Budget is printed and also what is formally called the Economic and Fiscal Outlook published, external by the watchdog and forecaster the Office for Budget Responsibility, the OBR.
The Red Book sets out the measures the chancellor will implement and how much they will cost. There are 98 of them, considerably more than normal and more than in either of Rachel Reeves' budgets.
But nearly all of them are pretty small in terms of their impact on the Treasury's spreadsheets.
This gets to the heart of why those involved in compiling this Budget have been irritated by commentary in the build up to it suggesting there would be nothing to see in John Healey's address – but also why those suggesting that were arguably onto something as well.
Firstly, as expected, it was a much smaller Budget in overall tax and spending terms than plenty of recent ones have been. But there were plenty of measures here and there which the chancellor will hope enough people notice and value – and others that some will likely curse.
There are more taxes for savers and landlords, for instance, and too for banks.
When a government has promised, as Labour have, to not put up income tax, national insurance or VAT – the big revenue generators – they end up looking elsewhere if they conclude putting up tax is necessary.
That runs the political risk of choosing particular sectors who might respond rather noisily. Think of the plenty of farmers who were incensed by the changes to inheritance tax Rachel Reeves was keen on.