UK government, planning for election, postpones budget

Britain’s government has scrapped plans to present its new budget next month, finance minister Sajid Javid said Friday, as it hopes for a general election in December to push through Brexit.

Javid recently said he intended to deliver his first budget as chancellor of the Exchequer on November 6, one week after the UK had been set to leave the European Union.

But with Brexit set to be delayed beyond the October 31 deadline, Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday called for a general election to be held on December 12, causing the Treasury to hold back on its budget.

“The budget is not going ahead because we’re planning to dissolve parliament on November 6,” Javid told the BBC.

“When I set out the date for the budget originally, it was always on my mind that we would have a deal, that we would leave on October 31.

“It is important to have a budget, of course, for any chancellor it’s important to have a budget. But what’s more important right now is to get this deal through parliament,” he added.