Economy: Alan Walters diary (budget) [Howe reducing PSBR to level MT wanted by freezing personal allowances] [released 2012]

Document type:	Declassified documents
Source:	Walters MSS (Churchill Archives Centre): WTRS3/1/1
Editorial comments:	Entry written as Wednesday 11 February but date subsequently corrected. The full handwritten text of the 1981 diary can be read here. The document is 80MB, so may take time to download.
Importance ranking:	Major
Word count:	1p
Themes:	Monetary policy

Wednesday 25th February 1981

M + GH [Sir Geoffrey Howe] (with Douglas Wass?) met as M was packing. GH said he had thought about Budget and need to reduce PSBR towards what M wanted (i.e. about £10 Bn) and best way was No Rooker Wise [i.e., no automatic inflation uprating of personal tax allowances]. M apparently wants NO-ONE to know (i.e. not DW [David Wolfson], JH [John Hoskyns]or me). But DW discovered results of the meeting - JH, DW and I think it is stupid politically, indefensible morally and economically. [Different pen used from this point] - but at least the PSBR will be about right and we shall avoid funding, sterling crises etc.

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