Bygone budgets: November 1993

"The budget of a responsible government"
Chancellor: Kenneth Clarke
Government: Conservative

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday March 3 1999 16.07 GMT

Chancellor Kenneth Clarke (black & white)

Kenneth Clarke's first budget after replacing Norman Lamont as chancellor in May was also the first unified budget, where the government announced its plans for income and expenditure at the same time. Many of the chancellor's plans were following through decisions made by his predecessor. Mr Clarke pledged to eliminate the public spending deficit by the end of the 1990s and planned to raise £10.5bn over three years from tax increases and spending cuts. This was warmly received in the City, but opposition leader John Smith called it a "vicious attack on the welfare state".

Income tax
Personal allowances frozen for two years in succession. John Smith called it "a devious way of increasing income tax".

Pensions
The first increase in the real value of pensions, above the level of inflation, since the late 1970s.

VAT
Despite fears, no extension of VAT to cover newspapers and books. A week earlier prime minister John Major had a private dinner with Rupert Murdoch, publisher of the Sun and the Times.

Social security
Benefits up by 3.5%. Other measures aimed at offsetting VAT on fuel included paying benefits a year early and an increase in cold weather payments from £6 to £7 a week.

Duties
Tax on pack of 20 cigarettes up by 11p. Duties on other tobacco products would rise by same proportion - 7.3%. No increase in the duty on beer or spirits. Duty on wine up 2p per bottle - in line with inflation.