Moments before yesterday’s Budget, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he wanted to “give all the support I can to further development in Northern Ireland”.
So, did Chancellor Rachel Reeves oblige?
While there was some welcome news for us, it is clear there are still challenging times ahead, particularly for small businesses.
No one was expecting sunshine and rainbows, so they wouldn’t have been disappointed. But after 14 years of Tory austerity, anything positive would have been a win.
Confirmation that two stalled local City and Growth Deals would be going ahead is welcome. These are essentially huge funding packages that will boost development in the Causeway Coast and mid south west areas.
Another possible positive relates to Stormont funding. Reeves announced £1.5bn for the Executive in 2025/26, which on the face of it looks great, but the devil will be in the detail.
It is unclear how much of that is new money, funds diverted from elsewhere, or money we would have received anyway through the regular Barnett consequentials used to calculate how much corresponding funding this place receives when additional public expenditure is announced in England.
For Reeves to honour Labour’s manifesto commitment not to hike the likes of employee national insurance, VAT or income tax, increases elsewhere were always expected.
In the end, £40bn in tax rises were announced yesterday.
While the 6.7% increase in the hourly national living wage will be great for workers, small business owners will feel it in their pockets.
Along with the announced rise in employer national insurance contributions, it could leave some struggling to stay afloat.
Our economy is heavily reliant on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), so such measures could hit home here more than in Britain.
However, the 40% rates relief for independent retailers and other high street businesses in England could end up having a positive impact on our SMEs.
The figure is actually down from the 75% those affected were previously able to avail of, but which retailers here didn’t benefit from.
If the Barnett mechanism for this was used by Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald to provide the same support, it would be a big help to our smaller retailers.
In the end, we’ll have to see how much new money flows from the first Labour Budget in years, but it is clear that small businesses will be hurting.