Hot Searches: Budget 2009
The hot topic online today is Alistair Darling's Budget. The outcome of his report seems to indicate that the country's higher earners are to be penalised, but there is some good news for savers and pensioners. Here is the Hot Search brief Budget breakdown:
Alcohol: spirits up 13p a bottle, wine up 4p a bottle, beer up 1p a pint
Petrol up 2p a litre from September
Cigarettes up 7p for a packet of 20
Pension up 2.5%
Income tax up to 50% for those paid over £150k
ISA limit increase from £7,200 to £10,200
Drivers given £2000 off a new car when trading in old
Stamp duty holiday extended for properties under £175,000
£500m goes to housing projects inc £100m for energy efficient homes
£50m goes to armed forces housing
£50b to boost mortgage lending
Airport taxes to increase
Increase in national debt will cause the pound to weaken making travelling more expensive
£1.7b to Job Centres, guaranteed jobs for under 25s who are out of work for a year
These are some of the key changes that will affect our everyday lives. And of course there was the unsurprising news that the economy will take longer to recover than previously forecast. So it seems as though we'll all have to try to look on the bright side - which is a little easier to do in the current pleasant climate. Apart from Budget searches, the weather has been a popular search over the past few days as everyone is desperately hoping this warm spell will continue. Unfortunately, judging by the BBC, the weekend is looking rather damp, so enjoy the sun while it lasts!
Top searches for April 23rd, 2009:
Budget 2009 - some unsurprising measures revealed
Coleen Nolan - reveals her tragic childhood
Susan Boyle - reports of a movie biopic
M1 wrong way crash - victims of accident named
Hell's Kitchen - Bruce Grobbelaar quits
Over counter diet pill - 'Alli' available without this prescription this week
Bonjela ban - may cause deadly disease in under 16s
UK weather - so far so good!
Andrei Arshavin - scored four goals against Liverpool in a league game
London Marathon - taking place this Sunday
