# Budget giveaways risk growth as frozen thresholds push more into higher-rate tax

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/daniel-hannan-when-will-voters-wake-up-to-the-fact-there-is-no-magic-money-tree-for-all-the-freebies-labours-doling-out/
- Published: 2026-10-30T05:26:32+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-30T05:47:44+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/debate/article-16250845/DANIEL-HANNAN-voters-wake-no-Magic-Money-Tree.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Americas, Elections, Politics, World

## Key points

- The writer says small Budget measures add complexity and cost.
- Frozen thresholds will move half a million people into the higher-rate band.
- The article links tax and spending choices to weak household income growth.

## Summary

The opinion article argues that voters welcome targeted government spending without considering how it is funded or the longer-term costs. It says the latest Budget’s many small grants and tax changes add complexity, which the writer believes can hold back economic growth and obscure the overall tax burden.

The article cites grants of £15 million for Dolly Parton’s literacy initiative, £10 million for craft brewers and £6 million for an events space in Glasgow. It also says frozen tax thresholds will bring half a million people into the higher-rate band, and reports the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ assessment that this could be the worst decade for household incomes since the Second World War.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.