The Adam Smith Institute Responds to the Spring Statement 2025

Maxwell Marlow, Director of Public Affairs at the Adam Smith Institute, said:

“It is no exaggeration to say that our economy is in dire straits. Our growth forecast has been sliced in half, our standards of living have been flatlining for years, and we have a huge debt problem. 

So the Chancellor could have used this Spring Statement to cancel the tax on jobs, which will devastate small businesses across the country, keep wages down, and stifle economic growth. She could have used the Statement to stem the tide of wealth-creators fleeing the country by offering them incentives to stay. And, although the Government has made some cuts to welfare, she could have used the Statement to reform the single largest item of welfare spending - the state pension. Every government which fails to abolish the triple lock will also fail to meaningfully reduce public spending. 

We are glad to see that the Government understands that building more in this country boosts economic growth. Whilst the housing targets are too low in our cities and suburbs, the liberalisation of the planning framework should be enthusiastically welcomed.

It is also good to hear that the Government is introducing modernisation schemes to bring the civil service into the 21st century. But we can no longer tolerate the state’s gluttony. The Chancellor must cut anti-growth and anti-business taxes, such as National Insurance or Capital Gains Tax, and she must scrap more QUANGOs as a matter of urgency. If she does not, we must brace for a 1970s-style crisis.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

For further comments or to arrange an interview with one of our team, contact press@adamsmith.org | 0758 477 8207

Previous research from the Adam Smith Institute found that the state pension could become fiscally unsustainable by 2035. 

The Adam Smith Institute’s Millionaire Tracker found that the UK is set to be the worst in the world for millionaire exits as a proportion of the population by the end of this parliament.

The Adam Smith Institute is one of the world’s leading think tanks. It was ranked first in the world among independent think tanks and as the best domestic and international economic policy think tank in the UK by the University of Pennsylvania. Independent, non-profit and non-partisan, the Institute is at the forefront of making the case for free markets and a free society, through education, research, publishing, and media outreach.