Business owners have taken a minute out of their mornings for a spot of light-hearted Budget Bingo ahead of the Chancellor’s highly anticipated speech.
They name the words and phrases they believe will litter the speech, with one saying he would not like a shot of Black Sambuca for every time the words ‘black hole’ echoed around the chamber.
Rohit Kohli, Director at Romsey-based The Mortgage Stop, loves a game of Budget bingo. When approached by Newspage, he said: “Brace for endless bandying of words and phrases like ‘working people’, ‘fairness’ and, of course, the gaping ‘black hole’. And let’s not forget the eternal catchphrase, which will echo in eternity: ‘let me be clear’. If we hear the phrase ‘growth agenda’, that’s likely to be background noise because there isn’t one.”
Michelle Lawson, Director at Fareham-based Lawson Financial, is also taking a punt on ‘black hole’: “’Let’s be clear’ is a clear favourite but ‘I make no apologies’ is also up there in the list of tired political platitudes. Oh, and ‘We’ve inherited the black hole’ is also a sure bet.”
Darryl Dhoffer, Founder at Bedford-based The Mortgage Geezer, said: “My money is on ‘working people’, ‘fair and necessary choices’, ‘economic stability’ and ‘a return to austerity’. The latter, we’ll be told, will be avoided at all costs, despite the fact we’re already there.”
Rob Mansfield, Independent Financial Advisor at Tonbridge-based Rootes Wealth Management, urged the public to avoid drinking games around the words ‘black hole’: “I wouldn’t want to get into a game where you had to drink a shot of Black Sambuca each time “black hole’, ‘productivity’ and ‘potholes’ was used during the speech.”
Meanwhile, Kate Underwood, Founder at Southampton-based Kate Underwood HR and Training, was very clear on her dead certs: “‘Let me be clear’ is peak Rachel from Accounts energy. ‘We inherited the worst…’ is another odd-on favourite. ‘Those with the broadest shoulders’ will crop up broadly, I’m sure, and our ears will be shouldering a lot of the phrase ‘We will not return to austerity’.”
Colette Mason, Author & AI Consultant at London-based Clever Clogs AI, is pinning her Budget hopes on ‘fix the foundations’: “She’s said it a zillion times already in the relentless run-up to the Budget. If this became a bawdy student bingo game, the nation would be sloshed by 12:45pm, which could well be a blessing. That said, the drinks will be a nice accompaniment to the ‘smorgasboard’. Let’s hope it’s tasty.”
Simon Thomas, Managing Director and Chartered Accountant at Ridgefield Consulting, also joined the game: “Today’s Budget will almost certainly feature the greatest hits: ‘Fairness’, ‘Strong Foundations’ and the classic ‘No return to austerity’. Whether those supposedly ‘unequivocal’ choices feel fair depends largely on which side of the tax line you’re standing.”
Emma Jones, Managing Director at Runcorn-based Whenthebanksaysno.co.uk, named her Budget Bingo sure thing for today’s speech: “Listen out for ‘It’s important when you’re in Government that…’. The Chancellor will be making the most of that line because Labour are highly unlikely to be in power after the next election based on their catastrophic management of the economy to date.”
