Cigarettes and Alcohol
Robert Walpole came a cropper in his budget in 1733 when he tried to introduce an excise tax on wine and tobacco (instead of the existing customs duty). Public outcry, was so great he was forced to cancel his plans. (Excise tax is charged on goods produced within the country; customs duties are charged on goods from outside the country.)
Read my Lips
George Bush Sr is not the only one to have promised tax cuts only to renege on any deal once happily ensconced in government. Rab Butler, in 1955, cut taxes to get the Conservatives re-elected, then later in the year held a second Budget and put them up again.
Budget Leaks
It used to be that the details of the Budget had to be kept entirely secret (now most proposals are referred to in the Autumn Statement). But in the old days when everything was under wraps, Labour chancellor, Hugh Dalton, made the mistake of talking to a journalist before his 1947 Budget speech. The details he gave the journalist were in print before he had finished his speech! He paid a heavy price for his indiscretion as he was forced to resign.
Savage Cuts
With the UK in dire financial straits, Chancellor Denis Healey went cap in hand to the International Monetary fund in 1976/ The following year Healey controversially began imposing tight monetary controls. This included deep cuts in public spending on education and health. Critics claimed that this laid the foundations of what became known as monetarism.
Nice One Nige!
When it comes to give-away Budgets few Chancellors were as prolific as Nigel Lawson who used tax cuts as a way to increase the Tories standing in the polls in the run up to the 1987 General Election..The 'Nice One Nige' headlines in the newspapers didn't last long though – his giveaway Budget stoked up inflation to 10 per cent and exacerbated the succeeding slump.
Salt of The Earth
But Walpole and successive chancellors were not to be discouraged from introducing unfair taxes. For instance the tax on salt was extremely unpopular - people called it grinding the faces of the poor. It was a particularly regressive tax, because everyone needs salt.
The Poll Tax
Whilst not specifically a Budget announcement, the community charge or 'poll tax' had a major impact on several Budgets afterwards that had to deal with its aftermath. The poll tax replaced the property based local taxation (rates). Its unpopularity contributed to the downfall of the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher. It was replaced in 1993 by a council tax, based both on property values and on the size of households. The combined cost of its collection and abolition was estimated at £4bn!.